Michael Franti’s UP Festival was created with a message for people to Wake up! Rise up! Get it up! Green up! Stand up! Shake it Up! Big up! Clean it up! Listen up! Sex it up! Surf’s up! Pump it up! Roll it up! Light it up! Drink up! Eat up! Dress up! Rip it up! Heat up! Live up! Be Up!

But any messages promoting self-improvement are carefully mixed with the promise of a big, fat party, featuring some of the finest artists to converge on one Australian stage. As Franti says,

"My goal is to put on a kick-ass fucking show. When people leave the festival, I want them to feel inspired and motivated. We are living in an era of cynicism. One thing that kills cynicism for me is a healthy dose of fun."

Franti himself heads up the gig, alongside his Spearhead collaborators, Ben Lee, the always amazing Blue King Brown and Ol’ Man River. It’s a tasty blend of folk, funk and blues, rolled up into one big, politically correct knees-up.

"I want to encourage people to have their voices heard and get used to that. One way of giving back to the community is allowing everyone to record, videotape, upload, download, blog any way they can and share it. All cameras, phones, audio recorders are legal! Everything’s legal at the Up! Festival,"

As the security guards will tell you, that’s not strictly true but you should expect a healthy dose of positivity with your grooves and a bucket load of warm regards on the day. 
Dates are as follows:

SEPT 14 Challenge Stadium, Perth.
SEPT 16 The Barton Theatre, Adelaide
SEPT 19 AIS Arena, Canberra
SEPT 20 Festival Hall, Melbourne 
SEPT 21 Hordern pavilion, Sydney
SEPT 22 Riverstage, Brisbane 

This is a carbon-neutral event. $2.50 from the ticket price will be iinvested in renewable energy projects and makes the punter climate neutral for the day.

Click here for tickets

PRESENTED BY: FRONTIER TOURING, TRIPLE J & MY SPACE.COM

Stay tuned for more details regarding the gigs and side shows.