| Music Festival Name: | BASSINTHEGRASS |
| Years Active: | 2003 - present |
| Dates: | mid-to-late May |
| Website: | http://bassinthegrass.com.au |
Bassinthegrass (styled as BASSINTHEGRASS)[1] is an Australian music festival. It is the largest music festival in the Northern Territory, and has been held annually since 2003 in the territory capital. The festival is operated by the Northern Territory Government through the Northern Territory Major Events Company, part of a project of the previous Martin government to bring prominent bands to the territory and showcase local talent. BASSINTHEGRASS has grown rapidly since its inception, resulting in the imposition of cap on ticket numbers in 2007. A sister festival, Bassinthedust, had been held in Alice Springs commencing in 2004, but was shelved in 2008.
Established in 2003, BASSINTHEGRASS is the Northern Territory's biggest and longest-running music festival.
The festival was first held in 2003 to fulfill a campaign promise by the government to hold a Big Day Out-style youth concert in the territory.[2] It was held in both Darwin and Alice Springs in its inaugural year, with the Alice Springs leg later becoming the Bassinthedust festival.[3] 5000 people attended the Darwin leg, with a further 1500 in Alice Springs, listening to headline acts The Living End, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, and NoKTuRNL.[3] [4] [5] It became an annual event.[6]
It became a Darwin-only festival in 2004 with the creation of Bassinthedust, and a crowd of 6000 turned out to a hear a larger lineup.[7] [8] Radio personality Jackie O had been meant to MC the event, but arrived nine hours late, and stormed off stage after being booed by the crowd and played over by Frenzal Rhomb in an incident that received national media coverage.[9] You Am I, Little Birdy, Evermore, Regurgitator and Anthony Callea headlined the festival in 2005.[10] [11]
The festival switched to a two-stage format in 2006.[11] [12] BASS is a Darwin rite of passage, and in its 18 years has seen some of the country's biggest acts perform to sold-out crowds. In 2019, the festival moved to a bigger, new seaside location at Mindil Beach (famous for its sunsets) and hasn't looked back since. The 2019 event sold out at 10,000 tickets.