Novel is one of Melbourne’s top dance promoters, known for festivals and series including Let Them Eat Cake, Smalltown, B3 and Days Like This. Over the past 15 years it’s put on shows spanning everything from disco to hard techno. This morning the group officially announced the launch of A3, an exciting new festival just 75 minutes’ drive out of town.

“I’ve probably been thinking about this since I left Pitch, which was four years ago. I started Pitch with the Untitled guys. It was a project I was very involved in and enthusiastic about, but then when Covid hit I decided to part ways,” says Novel owner Daniel Teuma. “It’s something I wanted to do again, but I wanted to make sure I learnt from my experiences at Pitch, both good and bad, and that the next thing we did was going to be a different process, a different team and a different festival to what Pitch was.”

There are some similarities, though. A3 stands for “audio, art and architecture”, and foreshadows the festival’s holistic emphasis on slick stage design, standalone art installations, roving performers and more.

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“Most people do go for the music,” Teuma says, “but I think it’s really important that we have other installations and other things to keep people occupied and interested throughout the whole three days.”

The art line-up is almost as weighty as the musical line-up, which mostly champions faster, loopier strains of techno from DJs like Belgium’s Amelie Lens, Swedish elder statesman Adam Beyer, high-tempo Aussie duo X Club, rave-reviving Brit Patrick Topping and American Bad Boombox. Slower, more melodic names on the bill include Âme and Stephan Bodzin. On the local front, catch Newcastle’s “bogan nosebleed gabber techno” specialist CRTB, Brisbane’s Dameeeela and Melbourne’s own Sophie McAlister and Merve, and many more.

Teuma says he was inspired by European festivals like Belgium’s Horst, which blend natural beauty with industrial cool. The A3 festival site is under wraps pending an EPA permit, but Teuma wanted it to have “its own identity as a site itself”.

The main stage is cited in a natural amphitheatre, the second is a permanent warehouse with space for 5000 people, and the third is a temporary but architecturally designed structure that will have the intimacy and immersion of an inner-city club.

The site has established camping and toilet facilities that are currently being renovated ahead of summer. It’s also relatively protected from bushfires compared to further-flung sites. Positives like this gave Teuma the confidence to pull the trigger, despite a general downturn for festivals and climate change making them increasingly challenging and risky to run.

“When it comes to a festival and running a business, it’s always going to go through good times and bad times,” he says. “I think no matter what year you start it, it’s always going to have challenges. This is a 10-, 15-, 20-year project. Maybe the first year or two might not be as financially successful as possible but ultimately my job is to make sure that it’s successful from a customer and artist point of view, where the experience is great.”

A3 runs from November 29 to December 2 at an undisclosed location in Gippsland. A ticket ballot is live now and gives registrants access to pre-sale tickets at 12pm on July 2, plus other benefits like winning free car passes. General release tickets are on sale at 12pm, July 3 and start at $355, with all-inclusive options for shuttle buses and camping.

a3festival.com

MUSIC

Adam Beyer
Âme
Amelie Lens
Amity
Argonaut
Bad Boombox
Bella Claxton
Carmen Electro
Casey Leave
Chris Stussy
CRTB
Dameeeela
Daws
Demi Riquísimo
Etapp Kyle
Fafi Abdel Nour
Farrago
Fka.m4a
Gumm
Hannah D
Hasvat Informant
He.She.They.
Hugel
I Jordan
Imogen
Innellea (Live)
Ivory
Jarred Baker
Jimi Jules
Jimi the Kween
Juicy Romance
Krystal Klear
KSMBA
Kyle Starkey
Mabel
Mano Le Tough
Marie Malarie
Marrøn
Merve
Mischluft
Papa Smurf
Patrick Topping
Poof Doof
Rafael Cerato
Sophie Forrest
Sophie McAlister
Stephan Bodzin (Live)
Toman
Vladimir Dubyshkin
X Club
Yarra

VISUALS

Akinori Goto
Capital Waste
Cr鉻
DarÍo Alva and Diego Navarro
Eek
Farevader
Harrison Hall
Harrison Ritchie-Jones
Karyn Nakamura
Kevin Peter He
Liquid Damage
Luca Dante
Mara Gallagher
Natasha Tontey
Naxs Future
Nū
Passive Kneeling
Pseudo
Sarah Aiken
Spisbah
Team Rolfes
Wendy Yu
Xtrux
Yiyang Cao

SPATIAL

Colourblind
ENCOR Studio
Lachlan Turczan
Merindah-Gunya & Rose Staff
Octa
Reelize.Studio
Studio John Fish
The Experience Machine
XYZ Dimensions