IN 10 years time promoter Dylan Oakes hopes to look back at early West Best Bloc Fest line-ups and identify numerous national "success stories" on the posters.
When the roving multi-venue music festival was launched in 2022 it's modus operandi was simple: An all-Newcastle line-up of the hottest emerging acts in the city.
The idea was an instant success. Crowds flocked to the Newcastle West block between Steel and Union streets and packed out venues like King Street, Happy Wombat, Rogue Scholar, Jam's Karaoke and Bernie's Bar.
After two years Bloc Fest has upped the ante for the third instalment on October 6.
Not satisfied with just being a launchpad for emerging acts, Bloc Fest is gearing up to host some of Newcastle's most nationally-recognised exports.
Recently-reformed punk-pop duo The Gooch Palms are returning for just their second show in Newcastle since disbanding in 2020 and punk luminaries The Porkers are joining the fun.
Indie-folk troubadour Adam Newling, electro-punk duo Raave Tapes and emo band Eat Your Heart Out round out the headliners.
All the headliners are expected to perform at the King Street Bandroom, except for The Porkers, who are scheduled to close Jam's Karaoke.
In total there will be 100 local acts on 12 stages across King Street, The Happy Wombat, Papa's Bagels, Bernie Bar, Jam's Karaoke, Rogue Scholar, Antojitos and Oakes' small bar Mad Poet.
The Family Hotel will not be a part of Bloc Fest due to the ongoing redevelopment of the pub.
The line-up also includes popular local acts like Camino Gold, Catpiss, Amy Vee, Dave Wells, Demi Mitchell, Slow Cinema, Good Corn Liquor, ChaiChester, Chloe Gill and The Main Guy & The Other Guys, plus a host of fresh-faced bands.
Capacity for the festival has doubled to over 2000 and 60 per cent of tickets have already sold.
"We're at that point where we can swap a few things and the main goal is to bring in new artists and support the youth and new ideas," Oakes says.
"We're at 68 per cent with new artists. Having the likes of Gooch Palms and Newling and The Porkers, Raave Tapes and Eat Your Heart Out, it's a solid one.
"It's good to see that a lot of these guys have come back and they're supportive of our goal.
"It has a name now and people know West Best for what it is. Most of the kids and older professionals are all over it."
Bloc Fest's success stands in stark contrast to the current national music festival scene, which has seen the likes of Newcastle's Groovin The Moo and This That cancel due to poor ticket sales and Byron Bay's Bluesfest last week announced next year's event will be their last after 35 years.
The failure of larger music festivals has been blamed on a myriad of factors including ballooning insurance and production costs and a weakening demand for tickets from young music fans due to cost-of-living pressures.
"It's a weird time," Oakes says. "I think our model and having Newcastle as a music-loving city and that parochialism of Newcastle music lovers, those things work together with the venues who are doing this with me.
"All the wheels aligned with this model of festival. We're not going anywhere.
"This was always going to be a grassroots festival and we have the opportunity to go a little bit bigger.
"The main thing from here is the success stories from bands we have who played at a West Best, they remember it, the patrons will remember it and that's when we start to see what we're seeing this year - the likes of The Porkers and Gooch Palms coming back to put a show on for us.
"Hopefully those success stories continue."
Oakes was inspired by Austin, Texas' famed South By South Festival when creating Bloc Fest.
He believes smaller and more locally-focused festivals are the key to creating lasting success in the increasingly volatile music scene.
"We're lucky in regards to being a block festival within the venues," he says.
"We're lucky we're the only festival model in the country that has a 100 per cent local line-up.
"The model seems to be working for us at the moment. Being under 5000 tickets and that boutique-style also helps with the amount of outgoings.
"It's a hard time for festivals and I think we're in a generational change with the punter as well.
"The young kids might not be as inclined to go to these 50,000-person festivals as the generation 10 years ago."
