TESTIMONIALS
One of the best weekends of music I had all year.
~ Rick
Photos by Thomas Lucraft for The Region
Photos by Thomas Lucraft for The Region
“A fantastic event with a wide variety of music and performances that is hard to see all in one place anywhere else. A great many artists from styles I’m not overly familiar with I’ve subsequently become fans of because of Essence. Bring on Essence 3!”
– Ben
“Unbelievable… One of Canberra’s best weekends… One of the best weekends of music I had all year… It led to discovering new bands who I never would have heard of if I didn’t go to Essence… There’s a sense of community… I’d highly recommend it, get amongst it, Essence Festival, rock on.”
– Rick
“In a climate of waning music festivals and less opportunities for artists to show themselves live to a new audience, Essence Festival is a fantastic grassroots festival that provides brilliant opportunities to artists from across various different mediums and help them foster a bigger following. It has helped put Canberra on the cultural map within grassroots artistic circles. Recommend 1000%!”
– Jahan
Photos by Thomas Lucraft for The Region
REVIEW:
ESSENCE FESTIVAL 2024
... All in all, Essence Festival managed to pull through with a grassroots festival dedicated to heavy music that put Canberra on the cultural map and this ambition truly paid off. Essence was made for metalheads by metalheads, but with its dynamic line-up, it kept the door open for music explorers, and if given the patience, everyone in attendance would have found something new and exciting.
REVIEW:
ESSENCE FESTIVAL 2025
Essence Festival represents something increasingly rare in the modern festival landscape: a genuine community-driven celebration of underground metal... The festival incorporated art, merch stands, vinyl and tape vendors, creating a multifaceted experience that celebrated the entire underground metal culture rather than just the music. This approach fosters genuine community connection, transforming what could be a simple concert series into a cultural gathering.