# One Night Stand (festival)

One Night Stand is an annual music festival held in various regional Australian cities and towns that is promoted and organised by national youth radio station Triple J. The event ran for 15 years from its debut in 2004 until 2019, with one break in 2015 for Triple J's 30th anniversary Beat the Drum event. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented any large-scale music festivals in 2020 and 2021, yet the One Night Stand did not return once restrictions on major events were lifted. After a spate of cancellations of major Australian music festivals, the return of the festival was announced by Triple J on the 8th of April 2024. One Night Stand returned to Warrnambool, Victoria on 14 September 2024.
In the early years of the One Night Stand, the host town was selected in the form of a competition where residents of the town had to gain approval from their local government as well as find a suitable venue. Triple J would arranges the artists to perform – usually four to five high-profile Australian bands of a variety of genres, alongside a local band that had uploaded their music to Triple J Unearthed. Entry to the festival was free for all ages, and the One Night Stand was specifically marketed as a drug and alcohol-free event. Attendance peaked in the festival's final years, with crowd estimates for the 2018 event in St Helens, Tasmania reaching a capacity of 20,000 (in a town of approximately 2,000 people), with a further 2,000-plus revellers locked out.

## History

The concept of the One Night Stand was the brainchild of Triple J's then-marketing manager Louis Rogers, with the intention of raising the awareness and relevance of the radio station in regional communities. Backed by special funding from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the first event was held in Natimuk, Victoria on Wednesday 28 July 2004 and featured acts such as Grinspoon, The Dissociatives, Koolism and Eskimo Joe. The location was chosen from a pool of submissions sent to the station, which required entrances to produce a letter from their town's mayor, permission from a venue, a petition, and a souvenir. The Natimuk organising committee submitted a petition of 3,000 names, considerably more than the town's population of approximately 500. They also raised $30,000 in pledges from local businesses to support the event.

## List of events

| Year | Date | Location | State/territory | Population | Attendance | Performers |
| 2004 | Wednesday 28 July | Natimuk | Victoria | 423 | 9,000 | Grinspoon, The Dissociatives, Koolism, Eskimo Joe, Less Than Perfection |
| 2005 | Wednesday 18 May | Ayr | Queensland | 8,334 | 10,000 | Hilltop Hoods, Shihad, Katalyst, End of Fashion, A14 |
| 2006 | Wednesday 12 April | Port Pirie | South Australia | 13,206 | 10,000 | The Living End, Kid Kenobi & MC Shurestock, Xavier Rudd, The Herd, Sector 12 |
| 2007 | Friday 20 April | Cowra | New South Wales | 10,358 | 10,000 | Silverchair, FunkTrust, Midnight Juggernauts, Behind Crimson Eyes, Flatline Drama, Leap of Faith |
| 2008 | Saturday 26 April | Collie | Western Australia | 7,404 | 15,000 | Cog, Pnau, Faker, This End Up |
| 2009 | Saturday 30 May | Sale | Victoria | 13,043 | 15,000 | Hilltop Hoods, Eskimo Joe, The Butterfly Effect, Miami Horror, Children Collide, And Burn |
| 2010 | Saturday 27 March | Alice Springs | Northern Territory | 21,622 | 6,000 | John Butler Trio, Gyroscope, Bluejuice, Washington, Tjupi Band |
| 2011 | Saturday 2 April | Tumby Bay | South Australia | 1,827 | 10,000 | Birds of Tokyo, Art vs. Science, The Jezabels, Joshy Willo |
| 2012 | Saturday 2 June | Dalby | Queensland | 12,299 | 15,000 | The Temper Trap, 360, Stonefield, Matt Corby, Mace and the Motor |
| 2013 | Saturday 13 April | Dubbo | New South Wales | 32,327 | 18,000 | Flume, The Rubens, Ball Park Music, Seth Sentry, Peoples Palace |
| 2014 | Saturday 17 May | Mildura | Victoria | 30,647 | 17,000 | Illy, Rüfüs, Dan Sultan, Violent Soho, The Jungle Giants, Wzrdkid |
| 2015 | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 2016 | Saturday 9 April | Geraldton | Western Australia | 31,982 | 15,000 | Alison Wonderland, Boy & Bear, Urthboy, Alex the Kid |
| 2017 | Saturday 22 April | Mount Isa | Queensland | 18,342 | 7,000 | Thundamentals, The Smith Street Band, Tash Sultana, San Cisco, Lucky Luke |
| 2018 | Saturday 1 September | St Helens | Tasmania | 2,070 | 20,000 | Peking Duk, Vance Joy, Tkay Maidza, Middle Kids, Alex the Astronaut, The Sleepyheads |
| 2019 | Saturday 14 September | Lucindale | South Australia | 555 | 15,000 | Hilltop Hoods, Meg Mac, Ocean Alley, G Flip, Chelsea Manor |
| 2020 | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 2021 | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 2022 | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 2023 | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 2024 | Saturday 14 September | Warrnambool | Victoria | 32,894 | | G Flip, Ruel, What So Not, Thelma Plum, Sycco, DICE |

## Awards and nominations
### ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| 2013 | triple j's One Night Stand | Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album | Nominated | |
| 2014 | triple j's One Night Stand: Mildura | Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album | Nominated | |