BTV Is Over – But Festival Season Isn’t. Here’s Why Pitch Music & Arts Should Be Your Final Summer Stop

It’s hard to match new year’s celebrations at Beyond the Valley: four days dancing in the bush with 40,000 people and some of the biggest names in pop and electronic music. This year’s 10th anniversary edition was particularly special, with Addison Rae, Dom Dolla, Kid Cudi, Turnstile on the main stage, and a suite of brand new programming. If you’re still nursing memories of campsite swimming pools and doof sticks glowing through the dust, there’s another Untitled Group festival to know about – but this one trades mass appeal for something more dialled-in.

Running from March 6 to 10 over the Labour Day long weekend, Pitch Music & Arts marks the end of summer with a sprawling, underground dance party beneath Gariwerd/The Grampians. Curated for electronic music devotees rather than chart-toppers, Pitch is the more intimate, left-of-centre sibling to Beyond the Valley, delivering long sets, deeper cuts and a line-up that skews firmly toward the cutting edge of global dance music.

It’s a fitting finale to Australia’s festival season – and here’s why.

The line-up

At a time when many promoters are downsizing, Pitch delivers scale. Each year, the line-up offers an overview of contemporary club music: a state of play for antipodean audiences cut off from the dynamic European circuit. As a result, it’s omnivorous, taking in everything from house, techno, dub, dancehall, industrial, footwork, drum’n’bass, breaks and garage, with progenitors (previous editions have brought out Marcel Dettmann, Donato Dozzy and DJ Stingray 313) getting equal billing with rising and local talent. This year sees Belgian techno powerhouse Charlotte de Witte booked beside UK rave revivalist Special Request, Japanese selector DJ Nobu, and Sama’ Abdulhadi, a centrifugal force in Palestine’s techno community. There’s also acclaimed British DJ DjRUM, who uses three turntables in his nimble, exploratory sets; Kaifeng-born, London-based Yu Su, a leftfield DJ, composer and chef; Pangaea, co-founder (with Ben UFO and Pearson Sound) of London’s Hessle Audio; and Eris Drew, Chicago’s “trans ecstatic” who – along with her partner Octo Octa – brings her liturgy of the Motherbeat to the festival’s closing day. Meanwhile, prolific Melbourne DJs and label heads Moopie and Sleep D go back-to-back with Hannah D and Jennifer Loveless at the head of a sizeable Australian contingent.

The design

Over the last nine years, Pitch has defined itself through ambitious stage design. Its monumental spaces – often created by international architecture studios – evoke rave’s origins in decommissioned warehouses and power stations across Europe and North America. This year, the brutalist-themed main stage, Pitch One, is designed by Melbourne-based hybrid designer-maker studio alter.place – the Melbourne-based team behind last year’s concept, created by Henry Howson and Ambrose Zacharakis. The Resident Advisor Stage, geared toward live and hybrid performances, is the work of Holland’s Studio Raito – long-term Dekmantel collaborators with expertise in elaborate audiovisual productions. But first to be unveiled is the upgraded Pitch Black stage by Berlin’s Tor Studio, whose clients include Yves Tumor, Playboi Carti, Bianca Censori, Berlin Atonal and Serpentine Gallery. Its two-storey, 360-degree industrial design echoes Germany’s underground club spaces, as well as the primordial collective experiences of ancient amphitheatres. Each stage features a Funktion One sound system – the kind used at Berghain and Amsterdam’s De School – world-leading technology created specifically for the club.

The experience

Contemporary dance culture is as much about restoration and communion as it is about sound and movement – and Pitch leans into this with experiences that go well beyond the dance floor. New this year, the Pitch Rock Pool offers an open-air swimming spot with views across the Grampians foothills, inviting festival-goers to reset between sets. That sense of balance extends throughout Pitch’s multidisciplinary programming, which is designed to facilitate a holistic experience. Its expansive arts line-up, for instance, provides a cerebral, psychedelic complement to the music. Curated this year by Tom Supple, known for his work with Dark Mofo, Rising and Vivid Sydney, the yet-to-be-announced program will feature site-specific light, sculpture, video and performance works. You can encounter some of them at Pitch Pavilion, a quiet space that will also host ambient sets, talks and workshops (past iterations have offered massage, reiki, tarot and meditation). For a full recovery, pre-pitched eco tents and glamping sites with a 24-hour concierge and interior lighting are available alongside general and premium camping facilities.

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of Pitch Music & Arts. Pitch Music & Arts takes place from March 6–10 at Moyston, Victoria. Two-, three- and four-day tickets (general camping included) are now on sale, along with Premium Camp, Eco Camp and Glamping upgrades.