One Night Stand (festival)

One Night Stand is an annual music festival held in various regional Australian cities and towns that is promoted and organised by national youth radio station Triple J. The event ran for 15 years from its debut in 2004 until 2019, with one break in 2015 for Triple J's 30th anniversary Beat the Drum event. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented any large-scale music festivals in 2020 and 2021, yet the One Night Stand did not return once restrictions on major events were lifted. After a spate of cancellations of major Australian music festivals, the annual return of the festival was announced by Triple J in 2024.^[1][2] One Night Stand returned to Warrnambool, Victoria on 14 September 2024.^[3]

One Night Stand
Genre	Indie rock indie pop hip hop electronic
Frequency	Annually
Country	Australia
Years active	2004–2019; 2024–present
Organised by	Triple J (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

In the early years of the One Night Stand, the host town was selected in the form of a competition where residents of the town had to gain approval from their local government as well as find a suitable venue. Triple J would arranges the artists to perform – usually four to five high-profile Australian bands of a variety of genres, alongside a local band that had uploaded their music to Triple J Unearthed. In its initial run, tickets were free for all ages, however since 2024, they have been at a cost of at least $10, with all proceeds donated to charity.^[4] The festival's record attendance was its 2018 event in St Helens, Tasmania, reaching a capacity of 20,000 in a town of approximately 2,000.

History

The concept of the One Night Stand was the brainchild of Triple J's then-marketing manager Louis Rogers, with the intention of raising the awareness and relevance of the radio station in regional communities. Backed by special funding from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the first event was held in Natimuk, Victoria on Wednesday 28 July 2004 and featured acts such as Grinspoon, The Dissociatives, Koolism and Eskimo Joe. The location was chosen from a pool of submissions sent to the station, which required entrances to produce a letter from their town's mayor, permission from a venue, a petition, and a souvenir. The Natimuk organising committee submitted a petition of 3,000 names, considerably more than the town's population of approximately 500. They also raised $30,000 in pledges from local businesses to support the event.^[5]

List of events

Year	Date	Location	State/territory	Population[a]	Attendance[b]	Performers[c]	Ref.
2004	Wednesday 28 July	Natimuk	Victoria	423[6]	9,000	Grinspoon, The Dissociatives, Koolism, Eskimo Joe, Less Than Perfection	[7]
2005	Wednesday 18 May	Ayr	Queensland	8,334[8]	10,000	Hilltop Hoods, Shihad, Katalyst, End of Fashion, A14	[9]
2006	Wednesday 12 April	Port Pirie	South Australia	13,206[10]	10,000	The Living End, Kid Kenobi & MC Shurestock, Xavier Rudd, The Herd, Sector 12	[11][12]
2007	Friday 20 April	Cowra	New South Wales	10,358[13]	10,000	Silverchair, FunkTrust, Midnight Juggernauts, Behind Crimson Eyes, Flatline Drama, Leap of Faith	[14][15]
2008	Saturday 26 April	Collie	Western Australia	7,404[16]	15,000	Cog, Pnau, Faker, This End Up	[17]
2009	Saturday 30 May	Sale	Victoria	13,043[18]	15,000	Hilltop Hoods, Eskimo Joe, The Butterfly Effect, Miami Horror, Children Collide, And Burn	[19]
2010	Saturday 27 March	Alice Springs	Northern Territory	21,622[20]	6,000	John Butler Trio, Gyroscope, Bluejuice, Washington, Tjupi Band	[21][22]
2011	Saturday 2 April	Tumby Bay	South Australia	1,827[23]	10,000	Birds of Tokyo, Art vs. Science, The Jezabels, Joshy Willo	[24][25]
2012	Saturday 2 June	Dalby	Queensland	12,299[26]	15,000	The Temper Trap,[d] 360,[e] Stonefield, Matt Corby, Mace and the Motor	[27]
2013	Saturday 13 April	Dubbo	New South Wales	32,327[28]	18,000	Flume, The Rubens, Ball Park Music, Seth Sentry, Peoples Palace	[29]
2014	Saturday 17 May	Mildura	Victoria	30,647[30]	17,000	Illy, Rüfüs, Dan Sultan, Violent Soho, The Jungle Giants, Wzrdkid	[31]
2015	Not held
2016	Saturday 9 April	Geraldton	Western Australia	31,982[32]	15,000	Alison Wonderland, Boy & Bear, Urthboy, Alex the Kid	[33][34]
2017	Saturday 22 April	Mount Isa	Queensland	18,342[35]	7,000	Thundamentals, The Smith Street Band, Tash Sultana, San Cisco, Lucky Luke	[36]
2018	Saturday 1 September	St Helens	Tasmania	2,070[37]	20,000	Peking Duk, Vance Joy, Tkay Maidza, Middle Kids, Alex the Astronaut, The Sleepyheads	[38]
2019	Saturday 14 September	Lucindale	South Australia	555[39]	15,000	Hilltop Hoods, Meg Mac, Ocean Alley, G Flip, Chelsea Manor	[40]
2020	Not held						[41]
2021
2022
2023
2024	Saturday 14 September	Warrnambool	Victoria	32,894[42]	15,000[43]	G Flip, Ruel, What So Not, Thelma Plum, Sycco, DICE, Flynn Gurry	[41]
2025	Saturday 24 May	Busselton	Western Australia	40,640[44]	TBA	Spacey Jane, Luude, Ruby Fields, 3%, Blusher, Velvet Trip	[45]

History of the triple j One Night Stand series of concerts.

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result	Ref.
2013	triple j's One Night Stand	Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album	Nominated	[46]
2014	triple j's One Night Stand: Mildura		Nominated

Notes

1. Population figures are sourced from the Census in Australia nearest to the event date.
2. Attendance figures are approximate.
3. Performers are listed by set time in reverse order.
4. The Temper Trap's headline set was cancelled due to extreme weather.
5. 360's set was cut short after 25 minutes due to extreme weather.