Yours & Owls Announces 'Metropolis Locale' Program

The biggest event on Wollongong’s music calendar, Yours & Owls Festival, is expanding the experience for ticket holders in 2023 with a menu of cultural festivities running alongside its stacked music lineup.

As always, the fest’s ‘Metropolis Locale’ program will shine a spotlight on local creatives working in and around the Gong, through a range of extracurricular workshops, art installations, performances and stalls featuring local innovators and community advocates.

“Yours and Owls has never been just about music”

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“Yours and Owls has never been just about music”, promoter Ben Tillman said in a press statement. “We have always strived for the festival to reflect what’s going on creatively in Wollongong and do our best to showcase the local creatives who do great things year after year.”

He continued: “As Wollongong has grown and progressed, so has the Locale. What started as a space for emerging artists now welcomes those who have formalised their passions into thriving businesses. Metropolis Locale aims to showcase and celebrate our local talent in the hope that it encourages and inspires more creative growth and evolution year after year.”

This year, the local legends strutting their stuff at the Metropolis Locale include visual artist Harold Barrientos (who’ll be on-site painting a mural of a festival headliner), activist artist Tegan Georgette (who’ll be painting a powerful genderless portrait to explore themes of vulnerability, power and gender roles) and Hidden Harvest (who’ll be setting up a special chill-out space for punters made out of 100% salvaged, unwanted bread).

Other names on this year’s Metropolis Locale roster include 130ARTStudios, Clay Wollongong, The Dirty Mugs, Eloise Cleary , The Grey Space with Brenden Newton, Katella Kreative, Make Space, Make Space Art Collective, Squash Bug, The Disability Trust, Toby Lansdown, Wollongong Press Association, Wanderer Magazine, Wollongong Comedy, Yakka Records & Bottle-O and Zephyr Magazine.

This is, of course, in addition to the monster music lineup which is packing the likes of American rappers Earl Sweatshirt and Lil Tjay, plus British singer Bakar, American punk rock veterans Descendents, trap-jazz fusion luminary Masego, New Zealand duo Broods, indie-pop outfit Peach Pit and Hobo Johnson.

While big homegrown names on the lineup include producer Golden Features (who recently announced his forthcoming second album), hip-hop trio Hilltop Hoods, homegrown favourite Chet Faker, Meg Mac, Ocean Alley, Safia, Vera Blue and many more.

Yours & Owls 2023 will be taking place over the weekend of Saturday, 14th and Sunday, 15th October at its new home, the University of Wollongong.

You can peep the full music lineup down below.