When?
Thursday February 6 – Saturday February 8.
Where?
White Hills, Tasmania. It’s a small rural location about 20 minutes outside of Launceston with shuttle buses departing from Launceston’s city centre. Launceston Airport is the perfect hub to fly into and is just 20 minutes from the festival site. If you’re road tripping up from the capital, White Hills is about 153kms due north of Hobart.
Who?
As Party In The Paddock evolves, the lineups keep getting bigger. Matt Corby will lead the charge in 2020 alongside Hermitude, Dune Rats, Broods (NZ), Cosmo’s Midnight, Jack River, while legendary party-starters Sneaky Sound System will also be taking to the stage. On top of that, there’s Briggs, Mallrat, Mahalia (UK), Lime Cordiale, Confidence Man, Odette, The Chats, Dear Seattle, I Know Leopard and Press Club. And that’s just the start – head to the Party In The Paddock website to check out the rest of the bill.
The history
2020 marks Party In The Paddock’s eighth annual year of festivities. The festival launched in 2013 with a lineup consisting mostly of local bands as well as interstate headliners Sticky Fingers, and Sid O’Neil from Vasco Era. They cranked things up a notch the next year with a number of Australian acts on the precipice of major success, such as Kingswood, The Pretty Littles and Stonefield.
From there, the PITP mission has been to up its game with each new lineup announcement. 2015 featured Dune Rats, Beautiful Girls, Allday and Luca Brasi; 2016 welcomed Violent Soho, The Preatures and Spiderbait; and in 2017 Tash Sultana, Hermitude and Remi made a big impression. Into 2018 and the lineup kept growing – Grouplove, Gang of Youths, The Avalanches and Meg Mac took to the festival. Then it was Lily Allen who led the 2019 iteration, performing alongside The Presets, The Jungle Giants, Vera Blue and a bunch more.
Rock and hip hop, indie and electronic, triple j and 3RRR, the PITP lineup always looks to appeal to a cross section of demographics.
Sustainability
Party In The Paddock is serious about sustainability, which is why they’ve implemented a variety of initiatives to limit waste and needless destruction. These include the push for punters to #BYOBottle and the wide availability of reusable cups. There’s the aforementioned carpooling suggestion, and they’ll be ensuring no tent is left behind.
Party In The Paddock happens on a working farm and it’s the organisers’ duty to get the farm swiftly returned to its regular state once the festivities wrap up.
The food vendors have all pledged allegiance to the sustainability mission for 2020. It’s essential that all food and drink packaging and utensils are 100 per cent compostable, meaning punters can simply place them in the organics bins that’ll be situated around the festival site.
There’s also a recycling centre onsite and as a precaution against laziness, the festival is offering prizes – such as cash for beers, food, merch and more – for those who deposit a bag of recycling or compost to the centre.
What to bring
Party In The Paddock happens in early February when the temperatures are still likely to be hovering around the mid-20s during the day and retreating back to the mid teens at night. So it’s an excellent time of year to be hanging out in the Tasmanian Hills, but it’s advised that you pack for all weather.
The Party In The Paddock philosophy
Basically, the organisers want to cultivate nothing but good vibes. That involves everyone showing respect for one another, including a “dickhead-free PITP” rule. Outside of that, it’s important to keep an eye out for anyone who’s looking a little worse for wear, and make an effort to preserve the natural beauty of the festival site.
It’s imperative to immediately seek out medical attention if you or someone you know isn’t feeling right. Likewise, if you notice behaviour that’s certainly amiss, inform security or a PITP crew member.
What else?
Party In The Paddock’s festival within a festival, Vibestown, will return for 2020. Vibestown brings a lineup of art, big name Australian comedians and whole bunch of market stalls stocked with fresh Tassie produce.
Tickets
Pre-sale tickets will go on sale Friday October 18 (sign up via partyinthepaddockfestival.com.au) with general tickets on sale from Tuesday October 22. Single day, weekend, and camping tickets are all available. The PITP organisers reckon carpooling is one of the best ways to get to the festival, as it’s an easy way to reduce your eco footprint. You can find a parking option in the ticket packages and there’s also a lush VIP ticket option.
Grab your tickets and find out more at partyinthepaddockfestival.com.au.
