FOMO Festival is bringing Flosstradamus, Metro Boomin, Goldlink, Desiigner and Empire of the Sun to stages across Australia in January, but as announced last week, the crew have already got their party pants on – announcing a series of ‘Countdown To FOMO‘ gigs to commence this month.

With FOMO making its Sydney debut in 2017 – this year’s edition was a Brisbane exclusive – there’ll be three warm-up parties across NSW to get punters ready for the huge festival. It’s the gig locations that might raise a few eyebrows – with Countdown To FOMO bringing Slumberjack, Feki and a stack of locals to Newcastle, Mona Vale and Rouse Hill. When we chat to Anand Krishnaswamy of BBE – just one of the minds behind FOMO – he says the location choices were very deliberate.

“Let’s face it. To date festival warm-up parties have been pretty lame. Strictly CBD locations with local DJs playing who have no real identifiable connection to the main festival itself. We wanted to change things up. Why shouldn’t kids from the North Coast, Northern Beaches or Western Sydney be able to see high quality Australian artists perform at their local venues? We believe fans shouldn’t have to travel into Sydney CBD to see Slumberjack or Feki play,” he said.

Indeed, the boom of electronic music is being felt in smaller towns and regional areas too, all of whom has cultivated their own scenes away from the CBD. It’s also good news for punters who have spent countless nights traveling into the city for gigs – on trains, in hefty Uber rides or sleeping on floors when getting home was just impossible.

The three Countdown To FOMO parties across NSW reinforce the festival’s inclusive approach – and that’s also been reflected in their choice of venue for Sydney’s festival location. The Crescent is situated in Paramatta, in the heart of Sydney’s West – a train ride away from the CBD and inner-city locations which usually host festivals of this magnitude.

“The decision to take FOMO to Parramatta was two-fold. Firstly, we wanted to re-create the magic of the amphitheatre at Riverstage in Brisbane. I think we’ve certainly achieved that with The Crescent in Parramatta Park. It is the perfect space for our One Stage, No Clashes, Party Together philosophy – lush green grass, amazing views from East to West, unrestricted sound and chill-out areas under beautiful trees,” Krishnaswamy said.

The second reason can be attributed to Sydney snobbery – if you live in the Eastern Suburbs, some people might frown at the thought of going down the M5, despite the fact that West Sydney has some of the best music, art and food that this city has to offer. Shouts to Pho An and El Jannah. FOMO aims to shatter all misconceptions about the area with its Paramatta Park location, and bringing Metro Boomin to play a Freebandz medley there is certainly going to help.

Krishnaswamy says that “there’s definitely a cultural cringe in Sydney about the West, that nothing ‘cool’ happens out there. We wanted to take some steps to rectify that. There’s thousands and thousands of smart, passionate and loyal music lovers in the North Western, Western and South Western suburbs of Sydney – we know this from our BBE database – so why shouldn’t they get a music festival full of top tier international and local artists on their doorstep?”

“After all, what is so scary about the Western Suburbs? Absolutely nothing! It’s diverse, culturally progressive and contains some of the most exciting and advanced communities in all of Sydney. Also don’t forget, and some people may be surprised by this, but Parramatta is the geographical centre of Sydney. It’s faster to get to Parramatta Park by train then it is to get to Olympic Park. At the end of the day, if people take the chance and trust us, their curiosity and bravery will be rewarded,” he continued.

The Countdown to FOMO parties kick off on November 25, and you can grab your tickets right here:

FOMO gets 2017 started right from January 6, hitting Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney: