Fontaines D.C. and The Hayley Williams Show are sharing top billing at the 2027 Laneway Festival, and the lineup across four cities reads like a lesson in how Australian festivals find new acts before anyone else does. The 22-year-old festival, founded in 2005 by Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio as St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, a one-day event in Melbourne, has spent its history spotting acts early. Now it’s doing it again with a mix of established names and fresh talent.
The festival visits four cities across Australia and New Zealand during the southern summer. Fontaines D.C. is the headline act for Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Auckland. The Hayley Williams Show takes the top spot in Perth and Adelaide, where the shows have been scaled back and are running as sideshows. Jane Remover plays both of those sideshows alongside Fontaines D.C., and Hyper-pop artist Tiffany Day joins the Perth leg.
Dates and Venues
Laneway runs from Friday, Feb. 12, in Sydney’s Centennial Park, through Sunday, Feb. 21, at Western Springs in Auckland. The full schedule:
| Date | Location | City |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 12 | Centennial Park | Sydney |
| Feb. 13 | Brisbane Showgrounds | Brisbane |
| Feb. 16 | The Rechabite | Perth |
| Feb. 18 | The Gov | Adelaide |
| Feb. 19 | Flemington Park | Melbourne |
| Feb. 21 | Western Springs | Auckland |
The Perth and Adelaide dates are the scaled-back shows. The rest of the tour runs Tuesday, Feb. 16, in Perth and Thursday, Feb. 18, in Adelaide, with Fontaines D.C. and Jane Remover on both bills.
Headline Acts and Support
Fontaines D.C. and The Hayley Williams Show share top billing across the tour. The bill includes Slayyyter, ADÉLA, Kim Petras, MUNA, Ninajirachi and Rico Nasty. Those six artists sit alongside the headline acts across the tour. The mix of genres is wide: alternative, hip hop, punk, indie, and the kind of sound that blows hair back.
Billboard reported on the festival’s history of finding new acts early. Billie Eilish, Florence + the Machine, Charli xcx, Clairo, Mitski, Tame Impala and Fred Again all played early career sets at Laneway. The most recent run shifted over 200,000 tickets and was headlined by Chappell Roan, with performances by BENEE, Wolf Alice, Role Model, Wet Leg and many more.
Laneway has the reputation as the place where punters can see the next hot act before everyone else.
The Festival’s History
Laneway started in Melbourne in 2005 as a one-day festival. It expanded into APAC through a Singapore leg. In 2013, it became the first Australian festival brand to expand into the United States, with a show at the Meadow Brook Music Festival in suburban Detroit. That U.S. event has yet to return for a second outing.
The festival has a long record of finding acts before they break through. Its history spans two decades and multiple continents, and the pattern remains consistent: Laneway finds new acts early, and then those acts go on to bigger things.
Ticket Sales and Onsale Dates
Pre-sales for the 2027 festival open next Wednesday, Oct. 7, ahead of the general onsale Thursday, Oct. 8. Tickets are available at www.lanewayfestival.com and handsometours.com.
The Perth leg adds Tiffany Day to the bill, and further updates are coming soon according to reps from Handsome Tours and Laneway Presents.
Why This Lineup Matters
Fontaines D.C. and The Hayley Williams Show headline a festival that has been finding new acts since 2005. That’s the story here. The lineup mixes established names with fresh talent, and the festival’s reputation rests on spotting acts before they become unavoidable.
The sideshow dates in Perth and Adelaide are a reminder that festivals are not one-size-fits-all. The festival has kept its reputation while serving audiences in cities that might otherwise miss out on a headline act.
The 2027 lineup is a statement of intent. It says Laneway knows what it’s doing, and it wants to keep doing it for another year.
Source material: “Fontaines D.C., The Hayley Williams Show Headline 2027 Laneway Festival,” Billboard.
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