The Living End, Hockey Dad and San Cisco are among the bands named on the two-day Portside Festival line-up stopping off at The Station in December.
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The team at Earp Distilling Co at Carrington, under the Earp Presents banner, are bringing some of Australian music's biggest names to Newcastle for the event - and giving local bands a taste of the festival stage.
Day one (December 21) features Hockey Dad, San Cisco, Keli Holiday, RAAVE Tapes and Sumner, with two additional bands being revealed this month.
Day two (December 22) brings The Living End, Birds of Tokyo, Eskimo Joe, Killing Heidi, 28 Days and Butterknife to the city's central business district.
Earp Distilling Co operations manager Cameron Burns says his team is "looking forward to bringing something exciting to Newcastle".
Ticket sales will be capped at 4500 for each day of the festival.
"It's been a bit disappointing to see all the music festivals cancelling and live music struggling, so we've been working hard to get this festival up and running," he said.
"We hosted a music festival at the distillery last year, Carrodise, which had 1500 tickets and they sold out. Our space is not built for that kind of thing so Earp Presents now focuses on off-site events where we can showcase our spirits, local food, beer and wine, and our city."
Earp Presents formed following the success of Carrodise. It's the first time the team has planned something of this scale, though, and they've worked closely with The Station Newcastle, City of Newcastle and Newcastle Tourism to bring the festival to the heart of the city.
"Earp Presents is us as a distillery, as a business, as a hospitality hub, taking live music and events off-site," Mr Burns said.
"We did the air show and the Supercars for the council. Fingers crossed this one goes the way we'd like it as we've got five more events at The Station next year."
The first event, in February, will feature international artists and "some huge names".
"Each event will be different, showcasing different styles and genres and ideas, but let's walk before we run," Mr Burns said.
"With Portside Festival we want an intimate, boutique music festival where we are showcasing local beer, wine, spirits and food in a city centre location.
"We'll employ upwards of 200 staff over the two days, too."
The first band will perform from noon on both days, with the headliner finishing up at about 9.30pm.
"The main reason we are using The Station for the festival, apart from the way it showcases the city, is that it's all DA-approved and ready to go," he said.
"It's so difficult to get a festival up and running if it's in a park or in the middle of nowhere, away from transport.
"We've teamed up with hotel partners so we'll have discounted hotels, and it's easy to get there by tram, train and bus."
