2005 St. Jerome's Laneway Festival began in
Caledonian Lane,
Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday 27 February 2005. The "St. Jerome's Summer Series" took place each Sunday afternoon, created by Jerome Borazio and Danny Rogers and featuring new bands of the time, including
The Presets and
Architecture in Helsinki. They then included a monthly Saturday night called "Brains", which was actually a residency for musical act
The Avalanches, and Borazio and Rogers eventually convinced The Avalanches that they could close the lane, remove the bins and stage a laneway party. With the addition of promotional material and other acts, the inaugural St. Jerome's Laneway Festival was launched. The line-up included: The Avalanches,
Art of Fighting,
Eskimo Joe,
The Dears,
Cut Copy,
Architecture in Helsinki,
Clare Bowditch, the Feeding Set and
Gersey. Following a total attendance of 1,400 people at the first Laneway Festival, it was announced later in 2005 that Laneway was expanding to
Sydney.
2006 performing at the 2006 Sydney Laneway In 2006, both Melbourne and Sydney hosted a line-up of both international and domestic artists, including:
Broken Social Scene,
Les Savy Fav,
Gossip,
Pretty Girls Make Graves,
The Avalanches,
The Posies,
The Hold Steady,
The Raveonettes and
The Drones.
2007 Just as Sydney's Laneway was becoming further established,
Brisbane venue The Zoo staged the festival in 2007. A combination of street party and music show included performances from The Walkmen,
Yo La Tengo,
Peter Bjorn and John,
Camera Obscura and Snowman.
2008 In 2008, Laneway found a home at the
Fowler's Live venue in
Adelaide. Laneway Festival 2008 included performances by
Feist,
Gotye,
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah,
The Presets, Stars, The Vasco Era,
The Panics and
Okkervil River.
2009 Laneway Festival Perth happened for the first time in 2009, which was well-reviewed by
FasterLouder. The 2009 event featured
Girl Talk,
Stereolab, Architecture In Helsinki,
The Hold Steady, The Drones,
Cut Off Your Hands,
Four Tet,
Tame Impala,
El Guincho,
Jay Reatard,
Buraka Som Sistema (DJ/MC set),
The Temper Trap and
No Age. An announcement in October 2009 confirmed that the festival would be held in
Auckland, New Zealand, from 2010 onwards.
2010 In 2010, Laneway Festival implemented some significant changes to adapt to the growing stature of the event. After some considerable issues with the Melbourne site in 2009, Laneway left its original venue and moved to the inner western suburb of
Footscray, with the support of the
Footscray Community Arts Centre. The Sydney event relocated from the site at Macquarie Square in the CBD to the courtyards of the
Sydney College of the Arts in
Rozelle. The inaugural festival in Auckland, New Zealand, sold out. The line-up in 2010 included:
Florence & the Machine,
Mumford and Sons,
The XX, Kid Sam and
Wild Beasts. In November 2010, the organisers announced
Singapore as the first city to host the festival in South-east Asia.
2011 For the inaugural Laneway Festival Singapore, music fans from all over Asia travelled to the Canning Park venue. Paul Kay, co-founder and editor-in-chief of
Time Out Hong Kong, wrote of "a lineup that mixed unimpeachable indie credibility with balls-out, dance-till-you-drop rock'n'roll euphoria". The 2011 list of acts featured:
Foals,
Warpaint,
Beach House,
Two Door Cinema Club,
Yeasayer,
Deerhunter,
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and
!!!, among others. Foals frontman
Yannis Philippakis called it "the best line-up we've been a part of for a very long time," while the Vine website's Marcus Teague wrote: "the top-to-bottom completeness of this year's Laneway line-up will be hard to beat in future years. Its roster of quality new bands coupled with on-the-cusp outright stars is veritably unmatched by any other festival. There's next to no filler ... It also seems to breed a discerning music fan that's (largely) focussed on the music." In March, Laneway Festival co-hosted a day party at the American
SXSW festival—alongside North American agency The Windish Agency, independent British promoter Eat Your Own Ears, and
Austin, Texas publication
Austinist—which featured
Twin Shadow,
Foster the People,
Givers,
Hanni El Khatib and
Jamie Woon, among others. Eat Your Own Ears then invited the Laneway organisers to curate a stage at the August
Field Day London event for the first time, which featured
Matthew Dear,
The Horrors and
James Blake.
2012 In 2012, Laneway Festival selected acts such as
M83,
Chairlift,
SBTRKT,
Toro y Moi and
Washed Out for that year's events. The festival recorded its highest tickets sales ever in Singapore, Auckland and Sydney in 2012. A Vine review stated: "This year's event seemed the most enjoyable yet … the 2012 Laneway proved that it's now an essential recurring destination on the calendar". Laneway returned to SXSW in 2012—and again in partnership with The Windish Agency, Eat Your Own Ears and
Austinist—to co-host the "Austin or Bust" day party that featured
DZ Deathrays,
Django Django and Chairlift. Laneway's organisers also returned to London's Field Day festival—in collaboration with Last.FM on this occasion—and showcased artists such as
Blood Orange,
Sleigh Bells,
The Vaccines and
Kindness.
2013 performing at the 2013 Melbourne Laneway The Laneway lineup in 2013 included:
Bat for Lashes,
Japandroids,
Divine Fits,
Alt-J,
Of Monsters and Men,
MS MR,
Jessie Ware,
Flume,
Chet Faker,
Pond and
The Rubens. The Tone Deaf website wrote: "Laneway does not fail to live up to its reputation, putting the mega-corporate festivals to shame with [its] authenticity". The festival continued to stage its events in New Zealand and Singapore, and programmed a stage at Field Day London for the third time. The Field Day stage featured a line-up of acts that included Charlie Boyer & The Voyeurs, Dark Bells and Django Django. On 15 March 2013, Laneway Festival announced it would expand to
Detroit, US, to make its North American debut on 14 September 2013. The inaugural Laneway Festival Detroit lineup was announced on 13 May 2013, and included co-headliners
Sigur Rós and
The National. The Detroit event also featured
Chvrches,
Solange,
Savages,
AlunaGeorge, Flume and
Icona Pop. After spending some time in Detroit in 2012 at the invitation of the Palace Sports & Entertainment company, Rogers said he knew the city was Laneway's next stop and first American venue: "Detroit is having its rebirth and as Laneway continues to evolve, we can identify with a city that is continuing to evolve as well... It seemed like a great fit and this line-up seals it." On 9 November 2013, Laneway Festival won Music Event of the Year at the
West Australian Music Industry Awards.
2014 performing at the 2014 Sydney Laneway Laneway Festival sold out five of the seven events in 2014. The festival featured
Vance Joy,
Lorde,
CHVRCHES,
Haim,
The Jezabels,
Earl Sweatshirt,
Four Tet,
Jamie xx,
Frightened Rabbit,
Daughter,
Warpaint,
Danny Brown,
Savages and
King Krule. In 2014, the Perth event relocated from the Perth Cultural Centre to
Esplanade Park in the port city of Fremantle. The new venue was chosen due to the event's growth in popularity, accommodating 12,000 people. Laneway also relocated in Adelaide and moved to the historical site of
Hart's Mill, Port Adelaide. In regard to the Adelaide move, Rogers explained: "We searched super hard to find a site that we felt could match the experience that other cities have had with Laneway. Renewal SA, the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and a team of locals have worked with us to find a site that ticks all the boxes." New Zealand artist
Lorde was scheduled to perform at Laneway Festival Auckland on 27 January 2014; however, due to her attendance at the
Grammy Awards ceremony on 26 January in Los Angeles, US, she was unable to perform. In lieu of her performance at the festival, Laneway's promoters announced a special stand-alone Lorde performance at the festival site at Silo Park, which was held on 29 January 2014.
2015 The festival put women at the front in 2015, with the likes of
FKA twigs,
St Vincent,
Angel Olsen,
Banks and the
Courtney Barnett playing some of the most coveted time-slots. Other featured musicians were
Mac Demarco,
Connan Mockasin,
Peter Bibby and
Pond. Agnes DeMarco, mother of Mac, featured as a special guest MC.
2016 2016 saw record ticket sales, and featured
Beach House,
DIIV,
FIDLAR,
Violent Soho,
Grimes and
DMA's, while Melbourne's Tripmonks made a splash with some unexpected nudity.
Flume debuted his new material, including special guest appearances from MC
Vince Staples and Kai.
2017 Laneway Festival 2017 was the 13th edition of the festival. The festival showcased new international acts such as
Car Seat Headrest,
NAO,
Mick Jenkins, and
Aurora, as well as local favourites like
D.D Dumbo,
Camp Cope,
A.B. Original,
Tash Sultana and
Tame Impala. 2017 also saw Laneway Festival launch a new
podcast, throw a
Hottest 100 Backyard Party in Brisbane, and introduce the 1800-LANEWAY hotline in every Australian city.
2018 New collaborations included I OH YOU's Block Party, David Moyle's Royal Moyle food extravaganza, and the debut of Luke Henery's (Violent Soho) latest exhibition, "Everybody Needs A Home". It was the largest line-up so far and featured
Mac DeMarco,
The Internet and
POND, as well as the Australian debut of
(Sandy) Alex G, Dream Wife,
Shame,
S U R V I V E and
Slowdive.
Triple J live broadcast the Adelaide event, with Ben & Liam mc'ing the event. The 2018 event in Singapore was the last one in the city.
2019 The 15th edition took place at a new Sydney venue, Footscray Park. Acts included
Jorja Smith,
Clairo,
Denzel Curry and
Rex Orange County.
Gang of Youths closed out the festival in
Fremantle. The festival also teamed up with Girls Rock! to empower the next generation of women and gender-diverse musicians. The inaugural Girls Rock! collaboration featured
Alex Lahey,
Alex the Astronaut,
Courtney Barnett,
Georgia Maq (
Camp Cope) and
Middle Kids, with the line-up varying across each location.
2020 The 16th edition proved to be the most successful festival ever, with record ticket sales, with events held in Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle and Sydney, where the event was held at
The Domain for the very first time.
The 1975 and
Charli XCX headlined the festival. Other acts included
Oliver Tree,
BENEE,
JID,
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard,
Tones and I and
Ruel.
Omar Apollo,
Oliver Tree and
bbno$ all made their Australian debuts. The sold-out Laneway Festival after-parties, a one-off charity gig by
The 1975 and Ruel, and the 50c donation from every beer sold at the festival, collectively raised over $150,000 to support those who were affected by the devastating
2019–20 Australian bushfire season.
2021 The 2021 edition was disrupted by the
COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and
New Zealand. In June,
TEG purchased an undisclosed stake in the festival.
2023 The 2023 Auckland portion of the festival was cancelled due to the
2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods.
2025 The 2025 festival took place at the following locations and dates in February: • Auckland / Tāmaki Makaurau – Thu 6 Feb –
Western Springs • Brisbane / Turrbal Targun – Sat 8 Feb –
Brisbane Showgrounds • Sydney / Burramattagal and Wangal Land – Sun 9 Feb – Sydney Showground • Melbourne / Wurundjeri Biik – Fri 14 Feb – The Park, Flemington • Adelaide / Kaurna Yerta – Sat 15 Feb –
Bonython Park • Perth / Whadjuk Boodjar – Sun 16 Feb –
Wellington Square 2026 The 2026 festival was held across six cities on the following dates: This year saw the relocation of the festival from
Brisbane to the
Gold Coast. This was due to the closure of the
Brisbane Showgrounds for upgrades ahead of the
2032 Summer Olympics. This was the first year that Brisbane did not host the festival since the city's inclusion in 2007 (aside from 2021 when the entire festival was cancelled). The Gold Coast is the first city in Australia to host the festival that is not a
state capital. ==Awards and nominations==