Popular music festival back in Fremantle after two years

After a two-year hiatus, Falls Festival returned to Fremantle last weekend and brought with it a stellar line-up of music acts.

Setting up in a new part of town, the two-day festival took over Fremantle Park and the Fremantle Arts Centre with three stages, a silent dance club exclusive to the WA event, market stalls and food and drink venues spread out across the site.

More than 40,000 music lovers made their way through the gates across the two days to see big-name drawcards including WA’s own Spacey Jane and American pop sensation Lil Nas X.

Ocean Alley, G-Flip, Choomba, Amyl and the Sniffers and crowd favourite the original Wiggles joined them on the Saturday bill.

Lil Nas X — real name Montero Lamar Hill — stole the show with his full-concert experience, bringing on a troupe of choreographed backup dancers with some even dressed as a horse during hit song Old Town Road.

Crowds in their best festival attire were back in force on day two to see Scottish pop band Chvrches, the DMA’s, Peggy Gou, King Stingray and an uber-popular close-out set by Arctic Monkeys.

The Fremantle Arts Centre area was at capacity when more than 3000 people headed to the second stage to watch the English rockers.

The festival was previously held at Fremantle Oval but moved to the outskirts of the CBD to accommodate a larger crowd, with surrounding streets shut off to traffic and given over to eager fans.

Organisers cancelled the past two year’s festivals due to uncertainty over the coronavirus crisis and border restrictions.