FESTIVAL: UWA O-Day Festival

The University of Western Australia is set to explode into life in February as over 5,000 students flock to the biggest uni event of the year: the UWA O-Day Festival.

Every year, the UWA Student Guild hosts a festival of epic proportions to kick off the academic year and revel in the last few days of summer. The O-Day Festival is the culmination of O-Week, a five-day orientation event. Students and the general public alike envelop UWA’s James Oval as they immerse themselves in the hundreds of stalls, free food and drinks, giveaways, competitions, performances and activities – and the main event of the day, a live concert on the sprawling Oak Lawn.

The concert will be headlined by Aria-nominated duo Jackson Jackson, featuring Harry Angus (The Cat Empire’s lead singer). After a headlining spot at Queenscliff Music Festival and a recent run of sold-out shows across Australia, Jackson Jackson will be bringing their unique brand of hip-hop/afrobeat/psychobilly fusion to the O-Day Festival, alongside a three-piece rhythm section and mini-choir known as the 'Jackson Jackson Five'.

The news that seminal 90’s kids entertainer Peter Combe will also be performing at the O-Day Festival has elicited thrilled responses from many UWA students. Combe toured Australia in 2007, performing to packed crowds of teens and twenty-somethings who remember his catchy songs from their childhood (including sold-out shows at Amplifier Bar and the Fly By Night).

Rounding off this stellar lineup are John and the Inverarities and Radio Empire, the top two UWA bands in the 2008 National Campus Band Comp (NCBC). Both bands beat out dozens of other uni bands to make it to the State Finals of Australia’s biggest band competition, and now return to home turf for the O-Day Festival.

The O-Day Festival will take place on Friday 20 February and is open to the general public. The carnival on James Oval is free. Tickets to the Oak Lawn concert are available for $20 at the door (free for UWA Student Guild Gold members). More information is available at http://www.guild.uwa.edu.au/home/activities/odayfestival.

Get ready to see off summer with a bang at the UWA O-Day Festival 2009!