The search is on for Australia’s next music superstar as the popular New Music Competition returns to the 43rd annual St Kilda Festival on 17 – 18 February 2024.
Entries for the New Music Competition open on Wednesday 27 September where 10 emerging musicians will be selected to play the New Music Stage on day two of St Kilda Festival, performing in front of music-lovers flocking to the beachside suburb.
The winning act, as voted by the passionate festival audience, will take home a $5,000 cash prize and book their spot on the St Kilda Festival Main Stage in 2025.
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Proudly presented by City of Port Phillip, St Kilda Festival is Australia’s largest community festival, discovering and nurturing fresh talent, while providing a platform to share their music and perform to an enthusiastic audience.
Since its inception in 2007, the New Music Competition has helped launch the careers of some of Australia’s most esteemed artists, including Baker Boy, Client Liaison and many others.
Baker Boy won the New Music Competition in 2018 and has since performed at the 2021 AFL Grand Final, won ‘Artist of the Year’ and ‘Album of the Year’ at the 2022 National Indigenous Music Award’s (NIMA), and has toured internationally. He has collaborated with renowned artists such as Bernard Fanning, G Flip, and Powderfinger, and continues to draw massive crowds.
St Kilda Festival Lead Sullivan Patten said the New Music Competition has been an integral part of St Kilda Festival programming for 17 years.
“The success of the New Music Competition and the engagement it receives is a testament to the community’s enthusiasm to support up-and-coming artists and the incredible talent of the next flock of musicians in Australia.
“It’s a wonderful way for artists to take the next step in their career by securing a gig on the New Music Stage at St Kilda Festival and we’re thrilled to provide this platform again in 2024,” Patten said.
The New Music Competition is free to enter and open until Wednesday 18 October. Applicants must submit two original songs and have a 30-minute set of original material they can perform at the Festival. For more information, visit the St Kilda Festival website.
St Kilda Festival brings significant economic benefits to St Kilda, celebrates and promotes Australian talent and consistently attracts more than 400,000 visitors to the foreshore.
The Festival enhances St Kilda’s reputation as a live music hub, further bolstered earlier this year when Council declared parts of St Kilda as Victoria’s first live music precinct. For more information, visit the St Kilda Festival website.
