UNIFY Gathering 2017 / Photo: Nikki Williams

UNIFY Gathering 2018 Dates Announced

UPDATE: The full 2018 UNIFY Gathering lineup has now been announced.

ORIGINAL STORY: If you’re still dusting yourself off from UNIFY Gathering 2017, strap in, because the festival has already announced its return for 2018.

In a statement, organisers of the heavy music event say they’ve started planning for next year’s shindig, which will take place between Friday, 12th and Sunday, 14th January.

The format, location and number of tickets available will remain the same, but the festival will likely see a number of changes next year, after 2017 ticket-holders completed a post-festival survey.

Organisers say that while “the feedback was incredibly positive” after UNIFY 2017, the survey helped them identify a few areas which might need improving.

“Next year we will look into having separate camping areas for people who wish to get a little more sleep, and for people who don’t drink,” the festival says.

“We’ll also have an increased police and security presence throughout the campsite, and support staff will walk the grounds ready to talk to people about anything they’d like to chat about.

“We are also going to assess ways to make the campsite more organised and find options for pre-made tents and campsites for those who want it.”

A woman was allegedly sexually assaulted at UNIFY Gathering 2017, so organisers are promising to focus more on security next year.

“There will be a much greater police presence at UNIFY 2018,” they say.

“The local police are friends of ours, and are huge supporters of UNIFY. We want to have them onsite as much as possible to make sure everyone feels safe.”

Organisers are promising more shade, more toilets, separate female and male bathroom areas, more showers and more cleaners working on site.

The festival is also looking into improving traffic flow, as well as possibly adding more buses and carpooling apps to keep traffic to a minimum.

While the 2018 UNIFY Gathering lineup is still a way off, this year’s event featured the likes of Northlane, Thy Art Is Murder, Alexisonfire, Violent Soho and Every Time I Die.

Read UNIFY Gathering’s full statement alongside all the photos from this year’s festival, below.

Gallery: Unify Gathering 2017 / Photos: Nikki Williams

UNIFY Gathering Statement (Via Facebook)

UNIFY 2017 is over, and we have now started to plan for UNIFY 2018, which will return next year on January 12 – 14. Next year a few things will remain the same including the format, site and the number of tickets available.

However, based on the survey we did for 2017 ticket holders, we wanted to let you know that we’ve listened to your feedback and have started to investigate implementing some changes to our event based on what you have told us. Everything about this festival is us trying to put together the best experience possible for everyone that attends, and we’d like to think that every year we make the right adjustments is another step closer to making this the perfect festival.

All in all, of the people who responded, the feedback was incredibly positive. 97% of people said they would come back to the festival regardless of the lineup, while 88% of punters were satisfied with Unify 2017 and feel there is no need for improvements.

By asking our punters to not hold back and giving them an open forum to tell us everything they think we can improve on, we have come up with this list below of things to work on.

Thank you all so much for your feedback. UNIFY 2017 was absolutely thrilling to be a part of and we can’t wait to do it all again next January. Now, we’re off to start booking the lineup!

CAMPSITE

Next year we will look into having separate camping areas for people who wish to get a little more sleep, and for people who don’t drink. We’ll also have an increased police and security presence throughout the campsite, and support staff will walk the grounds ready to talk to people about anything they’d like to chat about. While most people felt safe at UNIFY, we know that seeing friendly faces around the event will help reassure everyone that their campsite is safe while they check out the bands. We are also going to assess ways to make the campsite more organised and find options for pre-made tents and campsites for those who want it.

TOILETS

In 2018, we will have more toilets, separate female and male bathroom areas, more showers and will employ more cleaners to make your bathroom experience as fresh as possible.

PARKING & VEHICLE ENTRY

We are currently reviewing different options to increase the flow of traffic entering the site on the Friday with a goal to make it as easy as possible for people to get on site. In addition to this we investigating more buses and carpooling apps so there is less traffic coming into Tarwin Lower.

GENERAL SAFETY

There will be a much greater police presence at UNIFY 2018. The local police are friends of ours, and are huge supporters of UNIFY. We want to have them onsite as much as possible to make sure everyone feels safe. As mentioned, we will have support staff, as well as information guides wearing uniforms and patrolling the site so you always have someone to talk to about anything you need to know.

SHADE

We increased the shade at UNIFY 2017, but this time around we’re exploring even more shade in the main arena and in particular around the food carts.

We look forward to seeing you all in 2018!

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