'So much to be proud of': state's fastest-growing festival gains major acts

Festivals around the country have been axed due to rising costs and poor turnout but one Australian festival is going from strength to strength.

Always Live, a 17-day celebration of Victoria's live music scene, has become the state's fastest-growing festival featuring a massive lineup of local and international acts.

The Offspring, Air, St. Vincent and former White Stripes frontman Jack White are among 50 international acts heading Down Under for Always Live in 2024.

More than 90 venues across Melbourne and regional Victoria, including in Horsham, Castlemaine, Ballarat and Wangaratta, will host live events between November 22 and December 8.

This comes as festivals including Splendour In The Grass, Bluesfest and Groovin The Moo were either cancelled in 2024 or axed altogether.

Always Live executive program director Emily Ulman said the festival's success could be credited to the "exclusive and one-off live music experiences that have been commissioned, curated and co-created with the entire music community".

"There'll be tears, there'll be goosebumps, there'll be memories made and captured," she said.

While Always Live boasts 50 international acts and 58 interstate acts, the festival director said she was most proud of including 330 Victorian artists in the 2024 lineup.

Chet Faker, Dan Sultan and Missy Higgins are among the homegrown heroes featured.

She said the program was designed to "excite and entice every Victorian and every visitor to Victoria".

"Victoria will be at the forefront of not only taste-making but meaning-making," Ms Ulman said.

"Access remains at the heart of everything we do and not just physical access but ensuring music lovers of all ages and backgrounds can take part," she said.