Offshore Festival


The Offshore Festival was a camp-out rock and alternative music festival held during Easter at a farm near Torquay, Victoria, Australia from the late 1990s to 2001. It was run by the same organisers as the Falls Festival, held at nearby Lorne on New Year's Eve. It interlinked with the Rip Curl Pro surfing event, held at nearby Bells Beach, and festival ticketholders had free admission to the surfing event.
The festival reached its peak in 2000, when it sold a capacity of 20,000 tickets. However, it was opposed by a group of local residents who campaigned against the festival. When some of their demands, such as turning the music off at midnight, went unheeded, they began taking legal action. This resulted in the festival's inability to obtain a liquor license in 2001. The organizers moved the event to the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds the following year, but the event was not successful, drawing a crowd of only 10,000.
In 2002, attempts were made to resurrect the festival in Torquay, and after several legal appeals, a liquor license was granted. The organisers claimed they did not have time to book acts, and plans for any more festivals were cancelled.

Artist lineups

Over the years, the Offshore Festival featured a large range of artists including Blink 182, Silverchair, Tool, Rollins Band, NOFX, Pennywise, L7, Primus, Cosmic Psychos, The Living End, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, The Wailers Band and more.

1995

1997

Friday March 28
Snout
The Living End
The Mark of Cain
Blink 182
Saturday March 29
Def FX
Grinspoon
Sunday March 30
Silverchair
Tool

1998

Friday April 10
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Pre_Shrunk
Stereophonics
The Avalanches
The Living End
The Mavis's
Violetine
Saturday April 11
Everclear
Front End Loader
Moler
MxPx
No Fun at All
Painters and Dockers
Sandpit
Snout
The Superjesus
Sunday April 12
Good Riddance
L7
Mr Blonde
Primus
Sick of It All
The Cruel Sea
The Tea Party
The Wailers Band
Tomorrow People

1999

Friday April 2
28 Days
99 Reasons Why
Area-7
Beaverloop
Cosmic Psychos
Custard
Gerling
Guttermouth
John Abrahams
Moler
Pollyanna
Reel Big Fish
Shihad
Sonic Animation
The Celibate Rifles
The Cruel Sea
The Fauves
Saturday April 3
Something for Kate
Blink 182
Sunday April 4
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
Regurgitator
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

2000

Friday April 21
28 Days
Grinspoon
Ozomatli
Saturday April 22
Area-7
Michael Franti & Spearhead
NOFX
Pennywise
Royal Crown Revue
Testeagles
Sunday April 23
Primus
Rollins Band
The Living End

2001

Friday April 13
Augie March
Ben Harper
Bomfunk MC's
Fatboy Slim
Frankenbok
H-Block 101
Machine Gun Fellatio
Resin Dogs
Superheist
You Am I