Stars & Bars is bringing the party home this Saturday

Stars & Bars Festival Geelong is not interested in keeping you in one place. On Saturday 17 October, the beloved regional music festival returns to its hometown roots with a one-day musical bus tour threading together live music, wine, beer, spirits, food and some of Greater Geelong’s most distinctive destinations.

After five years of successful Stars & Bars events across Heathcote and Central Victoria, the festival is bringing its particular brand of sonic adventure south, with a day that begins in the heritage surrounds of Fyansford, winds through Bellarine wine country and finishes in the legendary bandroom of The Barwon Club Hotel.

The premise is wonderfully simple: Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride.

Board the G-Town Express at Geelong Station, settle in, turn your attention towards the music and let the itinerary do the rest. The result is part festival, part regional discovery mission, part winery and brewery tour, with plenty of opportunities to eat, drink, dance and discover the local scene.

Keep connected to your live music scene here .

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THE CONCEPT

An Epic Multi-Locale Music Festival Tour

Stars & Bars builds a festival around the pleasure of relinquishing the logistics. No complicated route planning. No frantic venue hopping. No staring at Google Maps while a band is already halfway through the good bit. Instead, the day unfolds one stop at a time.

The Geelong edition travels across Wadawurrung Country, connecting three distinct settings through a carefully curated program of music, hospitality and regional flavour. The first stop is Provenance Wines in Fyansford, where the restored Paper Mill precinct provides the atmospheric opening chapter. From there, the bus heads towards the Bellarine for an afternoon at McGlashan’s Estate and FarmDog Brewing, before returning to town for an evening of live music at The Barwon Club Hotel.

Each location shifts the tempo. Morning tea and a tasting flight make way for vineyard lounging, lunch and afternoon tunes. By night, the itinerary lands firmly in Geelong’s live music heartland. It is a compact way to explore the bookends and centre of region through the people making its music, pouring its wine, brewing its beer and keeping its venues humming.

THE ARTISTS

A Sonic Sojourn With Plenty of Detours

The Stars & Bars soundtrack refuses to sit neatly inside one genre. Alt-country, Americana, rootsy folk, rock ’n’ soul, Australiana bluegrass, psychedelic sounds, funk, cinematic jazz and classic rock all get a seat on the bus.

The daytime program begins with local favourite Rose Miller , performing at Provenance Wines as the festival eases into gear. The Bellarine leg then brings together Jungle Jim Smith , Karl S. Williams and Rhianna Fibbins , delivering a loose-limbed afternoon soundtrack designed for good drinks, good company and the inevitable discovery of a new favourite.

The evening program turns up the voltage. Geelong’s own Nathan Seeckts brings his country storytelling to the Barwon Club, joined by Magpie Diaries , whose heartfelt songwriting and Australian bush sensibility moves through folk, country-rock and dreamy alternative country.

Melbourne instrumental outfit The Seven Ups will also celebrate the release of their sixth studio album, Flight , with a special launch show. Their psychedelic jazz, atmospheric funk, modal grooves and warm synth textures are built for a live setting, where cinematic soundscapes can suddenly tip into full dancefloor propulsion.

Keeping the night moving between sets is special guest DJ Chunky Love , supplying vintage vinyl, deep classic rock cuts, late-night love songs and dedications until close.

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THE LOCALES

Three Stops. One Very Good Day Out.

MORNING / FYANSFORD: PROVENANCE WINES

The old mill gets a new soundtrack.

Nestled within Fyansford’s restored Paper Mill precinct and overlooking Buckley’s Falls, Provenance Wines brings heritage architecture, wine and live music together for the festival’s opening stop. Guests can settle in with morning tea and a wine-tasting flight before Rose Miller takes the stage.

It is an elegant opening move, with the day beginning slowly before Stars & Bars hits the road again.

AFTERNOON / THE BELLARINE: McGLASHAN’S ESTATE & FARMDOG BREWING

Next stop: wine country, with options.

McGlashan’s Estate and FarmDog Brewing brings together cellar-door wine, locally produced craft beer, gin, whisky and tequila, alongside food and live music overlooking the vines.

The afternoon is deliberately loose. Grab lunch. Order a tasting. Share a platter. Explore the drinks list. Find a patch of sunshine and let the music come to you.

Performing across the afternoon are Jungle Jim Smith, Karl S. Williams and Rhianna Fibbins. Meals and additional tastings are available to purchase, so the Bellarine leg becomes its own little choose-your-own-adventure.

EVENING / GEELONG: THE BARWON CLUB HOTEL

Back in town, the festival shifts gears.

The Barwon Club Hotel provides the final destination, bringing Stars & Bars into one of Geelong’s most established live music venues. Guests can grab a pub meal before the show before settling into the evening program, with The Seven Ups, Magpie Diaries, Nathan Seeckts and DJ Chunky Love taking over the night.

Those joining the festival after the bus tour can simply arrive at The Barwon Club and begin their Stars & Bars experience here. The evening session runs from 6pm through to 12.30am.

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TICKET INFORMATION

Buy the Ticket. Take the Ride.

The G-Town Express festival bus tour runs from 10am to 5.30pm , departing from Geelong Railway Station and returning guests to either Geelong Station or The Barwon Club Hotel.

Tickets are $60 per person plus booking fee and include return bus transport, morning tea, the Provenance wine-tasting flight and daytime live music. Tickets are strictly limited.

Prefer to make your own way to the evening festivities?

The Barwon Club Evening Session runs from 6pm to 12.30am , with presale tickets priced at $30 plus booking fee , or $35 at the door . The evening ticket includes entry to the Barwon Club Bandroom and performances from The Seven Ups, Magpie Diaries, Nathan Seeckts and special guest DJ Chunky Love.

The bus leaves at 10am. The music keeps rolling until late. The only real question is whether you’re getting on.

Tickets are on sale now and full information can be found at www.starsandbars.com.au

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