16 March 2020
From Team Dashville….
“Hi everyone, I hope you’re all safe and well wherever you are. Please read below the official notice regarding this year’s Gum Ball.
Due to public health threats presented by COVID-19, The Gum Ball is moving from it’s original intended dates of April 24th-26th 2020 to the October Long Weekend, where it will join forces with our sister event Dashville Skyline, for a one off ‘Super Duper Double Down Mega Fest’.
Please know we have worked through all options available to us, considering what we see as a vulnerable time for many and have decided this to be the most achievable and safest scenario for all involved.
The date for what we’ve affectionately nicknamed ‘Sky Ball’ will be 1-5 October 2020.
So best pop those dates into your calendar!
Everyone who has purchased tickets for The Gum Ball should have an email now detailing the transfer of tickets to the new date. If someone purchased tickets on your behalf they will be able to share all current info with you.
Without a doubt we are devastated to not be able to deliver the amazing festival program we had worked up for April. But we also must recognise that there is positives to every situation and by recognising those positives, we can begin to move forward and overcome the disappointment.
We are all working through this huge uncertain challenge together, it’s important we all do our best to support each other, particularly those in the creative arts, events, tourism and hospitality industries.
Some of these industries may fall over, though perhaps creativity will flourish in confined spaces. Winter will be cold, but time with friends and family by the fire will be warm and memorable.
Our thoughts go out to you and your family, our beloved community of supporters and we wish you safe and well in this difficult time.
On behalf of all involved, we thank you in advance for your support of Dashville and those industries listed above and we look forward to putting all this new planning together and delivering the goods when it is again safe to do so.
Thank you for your care and understanding”
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30 January 2020
Dashville is stoked to announce that The Beautiful Girls will be coming along to The Gum Ball in 2020! Other acts announced today for the 2020 festival include an all-female indigenous rock band from Arnham Land known as the Ripple Effect Band, Canberra blues rock duo The Barren Spinsters, Sydney dance floor wardens Majun Bu, local celebrity songwriter Dave Wells, raucous emerging stadium rock band The Stained Daisies, legendary folk storyteller Van Walker, indie rock legend come folk-noire instrumentalist Darren Cross and festival favourites from last year, sunny coast funk rock cats Burger Joint.
SATURDAY NIGHT HIP HOP SHOWCASE!
As a festival first, The Gum Ball will introduce its first live hip hop showcase with RIVAL EMPIRE PRESENTS: SPARTA Featuring Newcastle’s Talakai, Ty Mikado, Micks King and Sydney’s Bigredcap & Losty. This show will happen in the Tractor Shed, in between flavourings of comedy and open mic sessions.
BIG DOGS COMEDY HOUR
The hugely popular Big Dog’s Comedy Hour is also set to return with comedians Eddie Ray and Aaron Gocs confirmed to be in attendance alongside more to be announced shortly.
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2 December 2019
One of the Hunter Valley’s most cherished cultural escapes, The Gum Ball returns in 2020 for three days of discovery over the school holidays, 24-26th April, signalling its 15th year of operation.
Held at Dashville, an idyllic bushland property at Lower Belford, Hunter Valley, the family friendly cultural jamboree brings some of the best musical acts from around the globe to showcase them in an intimate setting one by one, alongside a whole list of other bits and pieces, including comedy, pro skateboarding, markets, workshops, camping and more.
Dashville is very pleased to reveal the first taste of The Gum Ball’s musical program for 2020, with Australian rock royalty THE CHURCH heading a superb list of 20 acts heading to the idyllic bushland site.
FIRST GUM BALL LINE-UP 2020
THE CHURCH + HARTS PLAYS HENDRIX + iOTA + DYSON STRINGER CLOHER + FRAZEY FORD (CA)
STEVE SMYTH + CASH SAVAGE & THE LAST DRINKS + OKENYO + LOST RAGAS
COUSIN TONY’S BRAND NEW FIREBIRD + SON – SUSAN O’NEILL (IRL) + EAGLE EYE JONES
TORI FORSYTH + LACHLAN X. MORRIS + CODA CHROMA + M.E. BAIRD + JONES THE CAT
THE SOUL MOVERS + BUDDY DINGO + PALOMINO + DASHVILLE PROGRESS SOCIETY
+ MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED…
THE CHURCH will enter their 40th year as a band in 2020 and, as fate would have it, will finally make their debut appearance on the hallowed soil of Dashville. It will certainly be a moment to remember when the haunting strains of ‘Under the Milky Way’, and other classics like ‘The Unguarded Moment’ and ‘Reptile’ roll across the starlit Gum Ball arena.
HARTS PLAYS HENDRIX sees one of the virtuosic rising stars of Australian music, Harts, pay homage to the greatest guitarist that ever lived, Jimi Hendrix. As a scorching three-piece, Harts and his band channel the Jimi Hendrix Experience in such a pure unadulterated form that you’ll believe Dashville has been transported to 1969.
As a tip of the hat celebration to 15 years of The Gum Ball, Dashville welcome back one of their fondest headlining acts from the very first festival, the incredibly talented and four times Helpmann Award-winner iOTA. This is a huge inclusion for the festival and fans of iOTA, with his renowned theatre career in full swing and mooted appearance as a Eurovision 2020 contestant… the festival has pleaded… and won!
DYSON STRINGER CLOHER return to The Gum Ball, having reformed to record a long-awaited debut record. The wait was well and truly worth it, with these three modern luminaries – Mia Dyson, Liz Stringer and Jen Cloher – delivering a stunning self-titled songbook. Prepare for some sublime harmonies.
Celebrated Canadian songwriter FRAZEY FORD will make her Dashville debut. With a soulful take on alt-country and Americana, Ford’s forged an international career as one third of The Be Good Tanyas. But her solo work is equally impressive, with ‘The Kids Are Having None of It’ being the first taste of her third studio album.
The Gum Ball also brings you the smouldering and seductive singing of STEVE SMYTH, Melbourne punk-blues growlers CASH SAVAGE & THE LAST DRINKS, Sydney’s soulful RnB hip hop singer-songwriter OKENYO, the psychedelic alt-country soundscapes of LOST RAGAS and the sophisticated indie pop and sonic space rock courtesy of COUSIN TONY’S BRAND NEW FIREBIRD.
Rounding out the first announcement is the dream-pop of CODA CHROMA, the enigmatic songwriting of M.E. BAIRD, rising Irish singer-songwriter SON aka Susan O’Neill, the funk-multi-faceted grooves of EAGLE EYE JONES, Hunter-based rocker TORI FORSYTH, Newcastle-based psych aficionado LACHLAN X. MORRIS, pop-punk upstarts JONES THE CAT, rockin’ Port Macquarie trio PALOMINO, the soul-pop bluesy sounds of THE SOUL MOVERS and Australian folk singer and distiller of culture BUDDY DINGO.
The Gum Ball runs from 2pm Friday, April 24 to Sunday midday, April 26, incorporating a special Anzac dawn service on Saturday 25th April. There will be more artist announcements ahead, alongside the line-up of comedy performers, pro skate boarders, food and market stalls. Tickets are on sale now through new ticketing partners Humanitix, with booking fees going to help Nutrition for Aussie School Kids.