Festival 23 at the Lancemore Macedon Ranges Hotel

A festival by the former creative director of Let Them Eat Cake – the New Year’s Day dance event at Werribee Mansion – debuted at the Lancemore Macedon Ranges hotel (and the surrounding 274 acres of bushland) in 2020.

But now, after numerous Covid-impacted years, it’s back for a second round – for three days from January 27 to 29.

There are still three-day tickets available for the small-scale festival, which offers on-site glamping.

“The underpinning idea to the festival is ‘leave better than you came,’” director Matt Bonner told Broadsheet in 2020.

Bonner grew up in the UK during the peak of the ’90s rave scene. As an adult, his love of electronic music followed him to Australia, where he organised club events in Melbourne, then ran Let Them Eat Cake for six years.

Like that event, Festival No 23 is for those who like a good boogie but don’t want to write themselves off. It’s complete with a pool and freshwater damn where you can enjoy music and swimming.

“It’s still a proper party, but the idea was to put on an event where people had the option of doing another bunch of stuff that’s really relaxing,” Bonner says.

That means workshops and thought-provoking guest speakers, as well as interactive art installations.

There’s a mix of international and Australian DJs on the roster. From abroad, there’ll be An on Bast, Ben Balance, Christopher Coe and more; and locally, expect Tokyo Love Hotel, Capture Crew, Vinyl Vixens, Bodywork and more.

There’ll be plenty of food on-site too, with options for vegans, vegetarians and those with other dietary requirements. You can eat at the Lancemore restaurant, or grab a bite from Disco Chicken, a ramen stall or a number of other food vendors.

The event is limited BYO, so you can bring a slab of beers and two bottles of spirits per person. But there’ll be bars on-site, so you won’t go thirsty.

More information here.