The Push to Celebrate 40th Anniversary With Return of Push Over Festival

Youth music charity The Push will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year with the one-off return of famous local festival, Push Over.

Running from 1992 to 2013 as the state's longest-running all-ages event, Push Over will go ahead at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, on Saturday, November 21st and feature some of the country's favourite rock and punk outfits, including Bodyjar, Frenzal Rhomb, Killing Heidi, Magic Dirt and Regurgitator.

They'll be joined by special guests Alex Lahey, Alice Ivy, Baker Boy, members of Public Figures, Ruby Fields, and Thalia and Cahli from Teenage Joans — all artists with their own history with the charity.

"The Push got us a ton of all-ages gigs in the early days, regional shows with bands we loved too. They do a lot for our generation of bands and people who love live music," Bodyjar said in a statement.

Frenzal Rhomb agreed, saying, "Why do we love The Push? Coz kids can do stuff better than old people. And organisations like The Push prove it. But mostly, 'coz it meant we got to play to heaps of people that we normally wouldn't get to, to pollute their young, developing brains with our music, and get them hooked for life!"

Regurgitator added: “It’s awesome to see The Push turning 40 and still providing the yoof a safe place to scream and be screamed at. It was a blast back then and continues to be a blast to be a part of this amazing, shared, formative experience.”

For 40 years, The Push has backed young people to find their place in music, on stage, behind the scenes and in the crowd, through all-ages live music programs and music career pathways. The now-national charity was inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame in 2024, and this year launched a 10-year National Plan for Young Australians and Music aimed at building consistent contemporary music infrastructure for young people across the country.

"We're over the moon to bring back Push Over to celebrate our 40-year history as Australia's youth music charity," The Push CEO Kate Duncan, said.

"Its return is iconic – bring your parents, bring your kids. Artists, young music fans, and parents have asked us to bring Push Over back – and we've listened. It was a rite of passage for bands and music fans for more than 20 years, including my first gig in 1998 seeing Rancid, The Living End and Jebediah."

General public tickets go on sale from midday local time on Monday, July 27th. Click here for more details.