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Mountain Sounds Festival

2014 – 2019 • Kariong, NSW

The Sound of the Mountain Lives On

Mountain Sounds Festival was five years of indie, electronic, and hip-hop under the open sky of Mount Penang Gardens. This is its tribute.

Relive Every Edition The Story
A crowd enjoying an outdoor music festival at dusk, bathed in warm stage light
How It Began

A Boutique Festival Born from the Bush

Mountain Sounds Festival first opened its gates in February 2014. Nestled in the Mount Penang Parklands in Kariong on the NSW Central Coast, it quickly earned a reputation as one of Australia's most beloved boutique festivals.

The setting was everything: native bushland, open gardens, and a warm coastal breeze that drifted in from the nearby Gosford waterways. It felt nothing like a corporate music event. It felt like a gathering.

Over five editions, Mountain Sounds brought together indie rock, psychedelic pop, hip-hop, and electronic acts from across Australia and around the world, alongside local food vendors, visual artists, and campers who treated the grounds like a second home.

The festival was cancelled in February 2019 at the last minute, just days before gates were due to open, leaving thousands of ticketholders devastated. It never returned. But the memories, the lineups, and the spirit of what it built remain very much alive.

This site is an independent fan tribute. It is not affiliated with or produced by the people who ran Mountain Sounds Festival.

Festival campers setting up tents in a lush green parkland
Artists performing on an open-air festival stage at sunset
  • 🌟 2014–2019 Years Active
  • 🏞 Mount Penang Parklands, Kariong NSW
  • 🎵 3 Stages Mountain, Valley & Garden
  • ☀ February Annual Summer Timing
  • 🌎 Boutique Indie, Electronic & Hip-Hop
The Full Run

Every Edition, Remembered

Five years. Five unforgettable gatherings on the Central Coast. Here is every edition in full.

2014

Mountain Sounds 2014

15 February 2014

The very first Mountain Sounds was a one-day event that set the tone for everything that followed. Relatively intimate, it proved the Central Coast was ready for a festival of its own.

Mountain Stage

  • DZ Deathrays Headliner. High-octane Brisbane garage rock duo who demolished the crowd.
  • San Cisco The Fremantle indie-pop four-piece brought early-afternoon sunshine vibes.
  • Asta
  • Winston Surfshirt A future Central Coast favourite making early waves.
  • Tuka

Valley Stage

  • Touch Sensitive
  • Basenji
  • Chet Faker Then on the rise, his set became one of the most talked-about moments of the day.
  • Tkay Maidza

What happened

The debut edition sold out well in advance and delivered on every promise. The grounds were manageable and the vibe was electric. Chet Faker's set on the smaller Valley Stage drew a crowd that spilled well beyond its fences, a sign of things to come for the artist and for the festival.

Festival-goers packed in front of a main stage at the first Mountain Sounds Festival in 2014
2015

Mountain Sounds 2015

14 February 2015

Valentine's Day 2015 brought the festival's first major step up in scale. A bigger lineup, more camping, and the introduction of dedicated art installations across the parklands.

Mountain Stage

  • Gang of Youths Headliner. The Sydney rock outfit played a set that many attendees still call the best live show they have ever seen.
  • Violent Soho Brisbane grunge heroes delivered a ferocious late-afternoon set.
  • Luca Brasi
  • Dune Rats
  • Remi

Valley Stage

  • Flume In the middle of his meteoric rise. The Valley Stage was never again so difficult to get into.
  • Ta-ku
  • Wave Racer
  • Cosmo's Midnight
  • Panama

Garden Stage

  • Polish Club
  • Lastlings
  • Ruby Fields

What happened

2015 is widely regarded as the year Mountain Sounds found its identity. Flume on the Valley Stage created conditions so packed that the organisers had to introduce a crowd management system for subsequent years. Gang of Youths closed with a performance so emotionally charged that many in the crowd were moved to tears. The night camping began to take on a life of its own, with impromptu acoustic jams continuing well past midnight.

A rock band performing under festival stage lights at Mountain Sounds 2015
2016

Mountain Sounds 2016

20 February 2016

The third edition expanded to two full days for the first time, cementing Mountain Sounds as a proper festival destination. Camping was now a core part of the experience, and the parklands were transformed.

Mountain Stage

  • Tame Impala Headliner. The Fremantle psychedelic act at the peak of their Currents era. Widely considered the definitive Mountain Sounds headline performance.
  • Pond
  • City Calm Down
  • Methyl Ethel
  • Alex Lahey

Valley Stage

  • What So Not Co-headliner of the electronic stage on night two.
  • Kaytranada Canadian producer delivering a late-night set that had the valley floor pulsing.
  • Crooked Colours
  • Mallrat
  • Tuka

Garden Stage

  • The Jungle Giants
  • Skegss
  • Confidence Man
  • Pist Idiots

What happened

Tame Impala's headline set is the moment most often cited when people describe why Mountain Sounds meant so much. The psychedelic visuals projected across the mountain backdrop and the natural amphitheatre of the Penang Parklands created something that genuinely could not have happened anywhere else. Kaytranada's Valley Stage set ran well over time because nobody was willing to leave. The two-day format also revealed the festival's camping culture at its best: communal, relaxed, and genuinely friendly.

A psychedelic light show at the Mountain Sounds Festival 2016 Tame Impala headline performance
2017

Mountain Sounds 2017

18–19 February 2017

Two days again in 2017, and the lineup was arguably the most diverse the festival had ever assembled. Hip-hop moved firmly into the spotlight alongside the electronic and indie programmes.

Mountain Stage

  • A$AP Ferg Headliner. The Harlem rapper brought a completely different energy to the Mountain Stage.
  • Peking Duk The Canberra electronic duo were a perfect second-to-top act.
  • Winston Surfshirt The festival favourite, now a much bigger name, returned in triumphant form.
  • Kult Kyss
  • Alex Lahey

Valley Stage

  • Tyler, the Creator A headline-level booking on the Valley Stage that drew the single largest crowd in the festival's history.
  • BROCKHAMPTON Then a relatively new collective, they left the audience completely stunned.
  • Disclosure
  • Cosmo's Midnight
  • Lastlings

Garden Stage

  • Skegss
  • Dune Rats
  • Tired Lion
  • Trophy Eyes
  • Waax

What happened

Tyler, the Creator's Valley Stage set is one of those moments that people who were there cannot stop talking about. The queue stretched back through the parklands before gates even opened. BROCKHAMPTON, still largely unknown outside of internet music communities, delivered a set that converted everyone who witnessed it. The 2017 edition was also notable for the introduction of a dedicated visual arts precinct, with local NSW artists exhibiting and creating work live throughout both days.

A massive crowd at the Valley Stage for a hip-hop headliner at Mountain Sounds 2017
2018

Mountain Sounds 2018

17–18 February 2018

The fifth and final completed edition. Looking back, 2018 had the quality of a festival at its creative peak: a balanced, ambitious lineup and a site experience that had been refined over four years of learning.

Mountain Stage

  • Jungle The British soul-funk collective headlined night one with an immaculate live show.
  • Gang of Youths Returning headliners who had grown enormously since 2015. A full-circle moment.
  • Methyl Ethel
  • Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
  • Camp Cope

Valley Stage

  • Vince Staples Valley Stage headliner. Precise, intense, and utterly captivating.
  • Sango
  • Crooked Colours
  • Remi ft. Sensible J
  • Kucka

Garden Stage

  • Ruby Fields
  • The Buoys
  • Skegss
  • Bad//Dreems
  • Slowly Slowly

What happened

Gang of Youths returning to close the 2018 edition felt like the festival acknowledging its own history. Their 2015 set had defined the early years; their 2018 closing set felt like a proper bookend. Jungle brought a precision and warmth to night one that suited the parklands perfectly. The food precinct had matured significantly by this point, with Central Coast producers and vendors becoming a genuine draw in their own right. There was a strong sense that the festival had found its ideal form.

Festival crowd lit up by stage lights during a night performance at Mountain Sounds 2018
2019

Mountain Sounds 2019 — Cancelled

Scheduled: 16–17 February 2019

The 2019 festival was cancelled just three days before gates were due to open. Thousands of ticketholders who had already made travel arrangements and camping bookings were left stranded. The announcement came without warning on the festival's social media channels.

Announced Lineup (Mountain Stage)

  • Childish Gambino Announced headliner. Donald Glover at the height of his "This Is America" moment.
  • The Presets
  • Hockey Dad
  • Confidence Man
  • Palms

Announced Lineup (Valley Stage)

  • Denzel Curry
  • Sable
  • Crooked Colours
  • Winston Surfshirt
  • Lastlings

Announced Lineup (Garden Stage)

  • Tired Lion
  • Bugs
  • Alex Lahey
  • Slowly Slowly
  • The Buoys

What happened

On 13 February 2019, just three days before the festival was scheduled to begin, organisers posted a brief statement saying the event could not proceed. The reason cited was issues with the venue permit. Festivalgoers who had already driven from interstate, booked accommodation, and applied for leave were left furious and heartbroken. The cancellation ignited a major conversation in Australia about the duty of care festivals owe to their audiences, and about the viability of boutique events in an increasingly difficult market.

Refunds were issued, but no future dates were announced. Mountain Sounds never returned. The Childish Gambino headline slot remained one of Australian festival history's great what-ifs.

An empty festival stage with rigging and equipment, symbolising the cancelled 2019 Mountain Sounds Festival
The Artists

Some Names That Passed Through

Across five editions, Mountain Sounds built a remarkable roll-call of artists. Many were on the verge of breaking through. Some already had.

Tame Impala Tyler, the Creator Gang of Youths Childish Gambino Flume BROCKHAMPTON Kaytranada Jungle Vince Staples What So Not Chet Faker Winston Surfshirt Peking Duk Violent Soho DZ Deathrays Disclosure Cosmo's Midnight Camp Cope Skegss Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Mallrat Ruby Fields Dune Rats Methyl Ethel San Cisco Denzel Curry A$AP Ferg The Presets
A winding path through the lush green parklands of Mount Penang Gardens in Kariong, NSW
Festival campers gathered around a fire in the camping area at Mountain Sounds Festival
The Place

Mount Penang Parklands, Kariong

The Mount Penang Parklands sit in Kariong, a suburb of the Central Coast roughly an hour north of Sydney. The grounds occupy a natural bowl of eucalyptus and subtropical gardens that made them, frankly, one of the most beautiful festival sites in Australia.

The parklands provided natural acoustics, shade, and a sense of enclosure that big city venues simply cannot replicate. You were not watching a festival on a flat paddock. You were inside something.

Three stages were distributed across the grounds: the main Mountain Stage on the upper terrace, the Valley Stage tucked into a lower clearing, and the Garden Stage nestled among the plantings for more intimate sets.

Location

Mount Penang Parklands
Parklands Road
Kariong NSW 2250
Australia
Why It Mattered

The Legacy of Mountain Sounds

🌐

A Home for Australian Music

Mountain Sounds championed Australian independent artists from its first edition. Acts like Winston Surfshirt, Skegss, and Camp Cope played early slots that helped build audiences who would follow them for years. It was a launchpad, not just a stage.

🌿

The Central Coast Deserved This

For decades, the Central Coast sat between Sydney and Newcastle with no major festival of its own. Mountain Sounds filled that gap and showed that Kariong could attract world-class talent to a setting that actually matched the music.

📸

A Community That Still Exists

The people who went to Mountain Sounds still find each other at gigs across Australia. The festival built genuine friendships and a shared cultural reference point. That community, forged over long camping weekends in the Penang Parklands, did not dissolve when the gates closed for the last time.

🔥

The 2019 Cancellation

The abrupt cancellation in 2019 left wounds that have not fully healed. But it also sparked genuine industry conversations about transparency, insurance, and the responsibilities festivals hold to their audiences. Something came out of the loss, even if it was hard-won.

Thank You, Mountain Sounds

Five editions. Dozens of unforgettable performances. One incredible place. For everyone who camped in the Penang Parklands, who pressed to the front of the Valley Stage, who watched the sun come up over the mountain with a new friend: this site is for you.

Mountain Sounds Festival ran from 2014 to 2018 at Mount Penang Parklands, Kariong, NSW. It was never just a festival. It was the best weekend of the year.