Sugar Mountain Announces 2016 Lineup
PRESS RELEASE:
It’s the news eagerly awaited by everyone who witnessed Sugar Mountain’s stunning rebirth in January – Melbourne’s most progressive music and arts festival has announced its 2016 line-up, and it’s a doozy.
Returning to the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) on Saturday 23 January, Sugar Mountain features another tantalising program of the best cutting-edge music and visual art from Australia and beyond.
While capacity remains limited, organisers have increased the scope of their unique site – located in the heart of the city’s creative precinct – with the introduction of brand new spaces, including the spectacular Melbourne Recital Centre. Along with an expanded food and drink offering, Sugar Mountain ‘16 is taking festival dining to a new level with Sensory, an immersive restaurant experiment developed in collaboration with boundary-pushers Bomba, Tin & Ed and Cut Copy – see below.
Sugar Mountain’s visual art component – an integral part of the festival – is also expanding in 2016, with world premieres and exclusive collaborations. One promising VCA graduate will be given the chance to exhibit via the inaugural Sugar Mountain Art Prize – you can learn more about that here.
The outdoor Boiler Room stage, one of the highlights of SM ’15, will return in collaboration with Bacardi, with all the action again being beamed around the globe via the world wide webs. Stay tuned for the program in coming months.
In 2016, Sugar Mountain’s ritzy Executive Sweet area moves to a new plush indoor / outdoor locale. In collaboration with Art Series Hotel Group and Pop & Scott, Sugar Mountain is creating a lavish space designed for a bit of luxury R&R. It’ll include a full service bar, phone charging, concierge service and a few little surprises on the day.
Sugar Mountain is a place for creativity to be exhibited, absorbed and celebrated. Curators Tig Huggins, Pete Keen and Brett Louis are determined to create an environment that’s convivial and interactive, with performances and spaces that will remain with the audience long after the festival finale. After a year off in 2014, Sugar Mountain returned in January 2015 at its new home at VCA in a wildly celebrated affair with over two dozen of the world’s (and Melbourne’s) most beloved artists – watch a highlights video here.
But Sugar Mountain has always been about looking to the future, so let’s get to the good stuff. 2016 features some of the most intriguing artists on the planet (and it’s pretty bloody exciting that a fair chunk of them come from Melbourne):
Music
Hot Chip
Dirty Three
Courtney Barnett
Julio Bashmore
Kelela
Le1f
Dām-Funk
Royal Headache
Viet Cong
Empress Of
Tim Sweeney
Tom Trago
Kate Tempest
Alpine
Roland Tings
Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda
Jnett
Total Giovanni
City Calm Down
Sampa the Great
Pearls
Kate Miller
Laila Sakini
Research & Development
Art
NONOTAK (Japan/France – world premiere)
Daniel Askill (Aust. exclusive)
fuse* (Italy – Aust. exclusive)
Nic Hamilton
SIBLING
Yahna Fookes x Martha Zakarya
Prue Stent x Honey Long x Clare Longley
Tickets on sale 12pm local time Monday, 19th October
Saturday, 23rd January 2016
Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne (18+)
Tickets:Moshtix