Australia Day Live Concert facts for kids

Australia Day Live is a big concert held every year on Australia Day, which is on January 26th. It takes place in front of the famous Sydney Opera House and around Sydney Harbour. This concert features music from many talented Australian singers and bands.

History of the Concert

The "Australia Day Live" concert first started in 2004. Back then, it was held on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. It used to happen on January 25th, the day before Australia Day. Before the concert, the Australian of the Year Awards ceremony would take place.

In 2012, the concert's name was changed to "Australia Celebrates Live".

Australia Celebrates Live Concert

The "Australia Celebrates Live" concert was a free event. It celebrated the people who had been named "Australians of the Year." Songs chosen by these special Australians were played. After the Australian of the Year Awards ceremony, the concert would continue with artists performing their full music sets.

However, in August 2016, it was announced that the "Australia Celebrates Live" concert would no longer happen. From 2017 onwards, the Australian of the Year Awards ceremony moved indoors to Parliament House.

Australia Day Concert in Sydney

From 2014, a new "Australia Day Concert" began in Sydney. It was held on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM, with Sydney Harbour as a beautiful background. In 2014 and 2015, there was also a morning concert featuring The Wiggles.

From 2015 to 2018, the Australia Day Concert was shown live across Australia on Channel Ten. Since 2019, the concert has been broadcast nationally on ABC TV. From 2018, the entire Circular Quay area became part of the celebrations, making the event even bigger.

Even though the Australian of the Year Awards moved to Canberra on January 25th in 2017, the "Australia Day" Concert continued as a separate event in Sydney on January 26th.

Return of Australia Day Live

In 2019, the concert's original name, "Australia Day Live," was brought back. It has been broadcast on the ABC ever since.

Artists Who Have Performed

Many famous Australian artists have performed at the Australia Day concerts over the years. Here are some of the talented musicians who have been part of this special event:

2004

Shannon Noll, DJ Armee

2005

Icehouse, Australian Idol 2004 finalists

2006

Russell Crowe and the Ordinary Fear of God, Rogue Traders, Jade MacRae

2007

Guy Sebastian, The Whitlams, TV Rock, Hi-5, The Audreys, Bobby Flynn, Renee Geyer, Sick Puppies, Deborah Conway, Kate Miller-Heidke, Mia Dyson, Damien Leith

2008

Ben Lee, Thirsty Merc, The Basics, Tripod, Katie Noonan, The Veronicas, Richard Clapton, Gotye, Ricki Lee, Blue King Brown

2009

John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew,Trial Kennedy, Lovers Electric, Jessica Mauboy, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Dan Kelly & the UkeLadies, Wendy Matthews, Gurrumul, Brian Cadd

2010

Cassie Davis, Ian Moss, Bertie Blackman, Bob Evans, Phrase, Hayley Warner, Evermore, Rogue Traders, Amy Meredith

2011

The Wiggles, Little Red, Ross Wilson, The McClymonts, Jessica Mauboy, Stan Walker, Altiyan Childs, Thirsty Merc, Justice Crew, Ganggajang, Jimmy Barnes

2012

INXS, Sneaky Sound System, Katie Noonan and the Captains, Spiderbait, Potbelleez

2013

Jimmy Barnes, The Presets, Guy Sebastian, Timomatic

2014

Lior, Matt Corby, Megan Washington, DJ Havana Brown

2015

Paul Kelly, Jessica Mauboy, Hi-5, Sheppard, Drawing North

2016

Jimmy Barnes, Samantha Jade, Nathaniel, Cyrus Villanueva

2017

The Wiggles, Human Nature, Tina Arena, Guy Sebastian, Dami Im, James Morrison

2018

Hosted by Grant Denyer, Sandra Sully and Luke Carroll, the musical talent featured was Anthony Callea, Marcia Hines, Christine Anu, Guy Sebastian, John Paul Young, Casey Donovan, Dami Im and Lorenzo Rositano.

2019

Hosted by Jeremy Fernandez, Kate Ceberano, John Foreman and Luke Carroll, the concert featured Jon Stevens, Yothu Yindi & The Treaty Project, Anthony Callea, Ricki Lee and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

2020

Hosted by Jeremy Fernandez, John Foreman, Christine Anu and Vanessa Amorosi, the concert featured John Williamson, The Seekers, Isaiah Firebrace, Eskimo Joe, Diana Rouvas, Daniel Belle, KARI, William Barton, Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

See also

• List of Australian music festivals