28 Oct 2015

Music festival gets a makeover

9:39 am on 28 October 2015
McLaren Valley Festival has been renamed Echo Festival and will take place in Auckland this January.

McLaren Valley Festival has been renamed Echo Festival and will take place in Auckland this January. Photo: Unknown

The festival formerly known as the McLaren Valley Festival has a new name, new location and new international acts on its line-up.

A couple of weeks ago, promoters confirmed that the festival would be moving to Auckland after organisers failed to secure resource consent at McLaren Falls Park in the Bay of Plenty.

Now it’s been announced the event is getting a makeover. It’s been renamed Echo Festival and new additions to the line-up include Jamie xx, Mac Demarco, Elliphant and Young Fathers.

They’ll join already-announced headliners The Flaming Lips, Disclosure and Kurt Vile and The Violators. A final international artist will also be announced as part of the line-up on Monday November 2.

All up, there’ll be over 30 acts performing and everything will take place at Auckland’s Vector Arena on Monday January 11 and Tuesday January 12 across two indoor stages and one outdoor stage.

Festival director Paxton Talbot said the event will “follow many great festivals into the inner city”.

“Echo will be a musical and cultural exploration with a line-up curated from the reaches of pop, rock, folk, electronica, psychedelia, blues, hip-hop, Americana, alternative and beyond.”

The all-ages event will include single day and two-day ticket options, as well as discount tickets for children (5-11) and youth (12-16).

Tickets will be on sale on Friday November 7 from Echo’s official site.

Fans that were planning on attending McLaren Valley Festival can exchange their tickets for Echo Festival or get a full refund from point of purchase.

Echo Festival line-up:

Aldous Harding, Alison Wonderland, Arthur Ahbez, Avalanche City, Anthonie Tonnon, Beastwars, Borneo, The Chills, C.W. Stoneking, The Datsuns, David Dallas & The Daylight Robbery, Dictaphone Blues, Die! Die! Die!, Disclosure, The Eastern, Elliphant, Fazerdaze, The Flaming Lips, Jamie xx, Jordan Léser, Kirin J. Callinan, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Tom Lark, Maala, Mac DeMarco, Margaret, Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders, Mel Parsons, Neddwellyn Jones, New Gum Sarn, The Preatures, Race Banyon, Racing, Tiny Ruins, Voom, Young Fathers