One of Australia’s favourite unorthodox and other-worldly festivals, Secret Garden, has announced that 2019 will be its final year.

Over the past decade, Secret Garden has hosted the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, Ecca Vandal, Sampa The Great, Client Liaison and more, with a stack of extra-curricular activities meaning that the event often sold out before the lineups were announced. As a festival which prided itself as a place where ‘punters participate rather than spectate,’ Secret Garden is truly the only festival of its kind in Australia.

Organisers have now revealed that the 11th edition of Secret Garden will be the last, saying that “we have known for a long time that Secret Garden 2019 would be our last year.”

“We started Secret Garden because we desperately wanted a different kind of festival experience. A festival less about the headliners and irritable crowds, and more about getting together a community of good people… 11 years on and what we set out to do has far outreached our expectations of what we thought Secret Garden could ever be,” they continued.

Still, there is some hope for festival lovers – with the Secret Garden team saying that they may “reappear in some other form in the future.”

The final Secret Garden will take place at Brownlow Hill in New South Wales, from Friday, February 22nd to Saturday, February 23rd. You can find more info on the last hurrah over on their website, and read the full statement below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8gk6x8E_aw

We have known for a long time that Secret Garden 2019 would be our last year. We have always wanted to go out with a big bang and the stars have aligned for this year to be the perfect time to drop the mic and say, Secret Garden – 11 and out.

We started Secret Garden because we desperately wanted a different kind of festival experience. A festival less about the headliners and irritable crowds, and more about getting together a community of good people, in over-the-top costumes and creating a world where patrons participate rather than just spectate.

11 years on and what we set out to do has far outreached our expectations of what we thought Secret Garden could ever be. Each year 100’s of musicians, dancers, performance artists, visual artists have descended on our forest and turned it into an explosion of creativity and adventure. We have picked up many awards and recognition for being one of Australia’s best and most unique festivals. We have raised nearly $500,000 for charities and most importantly we have been an essential escape and a release for thousands of old and new friends. It has been a privilege to have touched so many lives in this way.

We may reappear in some other form in the future. But as a wise person once said, always leave a party when your still having fun.

We have been deliberating over announcing this news before we open our garden gates one last time in February 2019. However, we wanted to give our loyal friends a final chance to attend the last ever forest disco

In celebration of this massive bombshell being dropped, we will be dialling everything up to 11 this year for – One Last Night in Paradise

Some extra tix have been put ON SALE for the loyal lovers of our forest disco.”