Dee Why Beach will host what organisers say could be the largest music festival ever staged on the Northern Beaches, with Wolfmother, Ball Park Music and Yothu Yindi announced as headliners for the inaugural Aloha Festival.
The all-ages event, set for Saturday 6 March 2027, is expected to host up to 15,000 people. Organisers say its goal is to bring large-scale festival programming back to the Northern Beaches for the first time in over 20 years.
Dune Rats, The Terrys, The Beautiful Girls, Mid Drift and The Beefs round out the lineup. Festival founder and Long Reef local, Luke Campbell, said the event was built for the whole community.
“The music scene’s pretty back on the Northern Beaches…this will be the biggest music festival or festival on Northern Beaches ever,” he told Manly Observer at a press conference for the event at Dee Why Strand today.
“We want to unite the community after a really tough time that we’ve had with all the incidents lately. We want to make it feel really safe and comfortable for people to come together, then we can educate them. So, with environmental sustainability, First Nations, Hawaiian culture, are the huge things that we really want to celebrate. And bringing the kids together, we can educate the kids all the way from five-year-olds and then to the 85-year-olds. Have that family Ohana experience.”
Between music sets, the main stage will screen surf films curated by the Australian Surf Film Festival. The program includes John Florence’s Hawaiian Aloha Festival Exclusive, Jack Johnson’s The September Sessions, remastered in 4K for its 25th anniversary, and George Greenough’s 1971 film Echoes, known for its early footage shot from inside the barrel of a wave.
Local surfers also feature. Paul Witzig’s 1989 film All Down the Line, starring Northern Beaches two-time world champion Tom Carroll, will screen for the first time since its release. Long Reef surfer Kobi Clements appears in Unwritten, directed by Joel Barker.
Shark safety will be a focus
Organisers say shark education and ocean safety will be central to the day, following a series of serious shark incidents on the Northern Beaches, Sydney and beyond over the past year.
The festival is partnering with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), SharkSmart, Surf Life Saving NSW and Surfing NSW to inform festivalgoers about shark behaviour and the technology being used to keep swimmers safer.
Mental health groups Gotcha4Life and Blue Minds will run a wellness zone offering yoga, massage and ice baths. Environmental groups including Surfers for Climate and Take 3 for the Sea will run dune restoration and anti-plastic initiatives, and Return and Earn recycling proceeds will go to the festival’s charity partners.
A Bush to Beach program will give young First Nations people the chance to attend their first festival and meet Australian musical group Yothu Yindi.
The festival will also mark Hawaiian surfer Duke Kahanamoku’s role in bringing surfing to Australia. Kahanamoku demonstrated surfing at nearby Freshwater in 1914, then surfed at Dee Why the following day.
Other attractions will include a market village, live tattooing, athlete signings, a kids’ area with a Ferris wheel and a golf simulator offering a $50,000 hole-in-one prize.
Presale access opens Friday 23 October for those who register on the festival website. General tickets go on sale Monday 26 October on the Aloha website.
