Bangalow welcomes the inaugural edition of DINGO Music & Arts Festival across 10 different venues

A selection of internationally revered names come together with local icons across a wide variety of genres at the inaugural DINGO Music and Arts Festival, set to take place across four days from Thursday, October 8 to Sunday, October 11.

Curatorially "anchored in jazz and programmed through a contemporary lens", the festival is set to welcome a lineup of over 40 acts, with more to come, across venues including public and creative private spaces.

Set to call Bangalow's halls, galleries, record stores, and public spaces home, DINGO is an opportunity for locals and visitors alike to move through the town, whose population was last recorded at 2,752 in 2021.

For the town, only a fifteen-minute drive from Byron Bay itself, DINGO will encourage punters to explore some of its more 'hidden' locales, as well as main stages across the Bangalow A&I Hall, Moller Pavilion, Old Scout Hall, Flo Records, Bangalow RSL, You Beauty, The Lumber Yard, and Station Street, alongside an opening celebration at the Northern Hotel Byron Bay and a closing party at the Beach Hotel Byron Bay plus after-parties and some secret venues TBA.

Speaking of the festival's use of space, Director Si Jay Gould shared:

"We weren't interested in creating another festival that could happen anywhere. DINGO is built around Bangalow itself, where every venue and public space becomes part of the experience. This isn’t a jazz festival, but the whole festival is jazz. We wanted to bring together artists from different worlds to improvise, take risks and collaborate into new possibilities."

That jazz sensibility is expressed in DINGO's use of space, and clearly across its bookings, too. Leading its first lineup are three-time Grammy nominees Hiatus Kaiyote, London-based group Kokoroko, Philadelphia producer and DJ Rich Medina, Mexican-originating DJ Coco Maria, as well as Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali rapper Miss Kaninna, musician Harry Angus, Barney McAll and Hiatus Kaiyote's Nai Palm as a solo act.

Along with live performance, a wide variety of DJs and more electronically aligned artists fill the bill, including Steve Spacek, Andras, Albrecht La'Brooy, YL Hooi, Good Morning Tapes, Edd Fisher, Horatio Luna, D.D Mirage and many more.

Outside of music, DINGO is also set to offer a variety of artist conversations, workshops, sound installations, food experiences, and a Guinness World Records attempt for 'World's Smallest Jazz Club'.

Pre-sale tickets to DINGO Music & Arts Festival are officially live today, with general admission sales set to launch this Wednesday, July 15.

Visit DINGO Music & Arts Festival's website for more information.

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Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ's Managing Editor. Find him on Instagram.