Featuring 99 acts on four stages over the three-day immersive event, Yonder’s line up has bands mixing with visual artists, performances and street art workshops.

Festival director Lincoln Savage is proud that the festival has survived and become stronger through the pandemic and La Niña years, to now move to a bigger space from its original site in the Mary Valley.

“The venue where we have now is incredible. We were looking for about eight months for a new site and ended up with the best possible option. It’s called the Lost World. I think that suits a festival called Yonder quite well,” Savage said.

“The relationships we’ve built with all the neighbours, the landowners, the Traditional Owners have been amazing getting to know them and they’re also super excited to be part of it.”

He said Yonder was unconventional, celebrating international and home grown artists in a deep exploration of creative expression, with festival goers camping on-site.

“Yonder is built on a balance of all art-forms and focuses on artists who are starting to break out,” Savage said.

“It is something that exists to support a much wider range of early career emerging and mid-career artists rather than the more established touring artists.

“I feel like we started because there was a lack of opportunity for those emerging artists and it grew out of that. It’s like a contemporary Woodford (Folk Festival), like a younger generation Woodford in a way.

“We encourage people to attend Yonder not because of the artists they know, but those they don’t – we hope Yonder provides an eclectic experience for people to discover their new favourite acts.”

Camping on site is as an integral part of the Yonder Festival experience.

“The ticket price includes camping and it operates over three days – from the Thursday afternoon through late Saturday night,” Savage said.

“The demographics are pretty diverse. I’m just looking at my audience at the moment and there’s people between 19 years old to 62 years old. The bulk of our audience are probably between 25 and 35, but it’s a very inclusive space as well.

“We have very strong guidelines around safety, sexual identity, cultural safety and these sort of things. It tends to be quite a varied audience. It is 18 plus though. We don’t have children on site.

“It’s a place where people can disconnect from their busy, bustling lives. It takes maybe a day to get comfortable and then you’ve got two days there where you can truly relax, interact with people, communicate, and take some time to be mindful.”

Back by popular demand is The Space Between Notes, an ambient stage at the festival featuring two-hour long sets across the board, reserved for relaxation, meditation and deep listening.

The acts he’s most looking forward to seeing are Miles Brown, who plays the theremin in a gothic dance music project; and Haiku Hands, an all female three piece electro dance band.

“Look, it’s just so amazing to have an opportunity to bring people together in these environments and in this way,” he said.

“All the challenges that are happening are making it difficult to run outdoor events. I think the value of creating spaces that people can come together, outside of the city, are so important, for mental health and for wellbeing.

“Generally it’s just being in that environment and connecting people with artists and audiences is the thing we’re most excited about.”