October 13, 2023

Yours and Owls Festival welcomed to Wollongong campus

Two-day music festival has first outing at its new home this weekend

University of Wollongong (UOW) Vice-Chancellor and President Patricia M. Davidson has wished festivalgoers a wonderful experience and welcomed them to the University’s Wollongong campus ahead of this weekend’s Yours and Owls festival.

UOW is hosting the two-day music festival for the first time this weekend (14-15 October), with the event set to boost the local economy and showcase UOW’s famously leafy campus to thousands of people. 

“Our campus has been buzzing with activity and excitement all this week with trucks coming and going and stages and other facilities being set up,” Professor Davidson said.

“I know hundreds of our students will be at the Yours and Owls Festival along with thousands more from across our community and further afield. I wish all of them the absolute best and hope they have a fantastic and safe time.

“A lot of people at the University have put in a huge effort and a lot of hard work to enable Yours and Ours to go ahead at UOW and I acknowledge and thank them for making this happen.”

By stepping forward to partner with Yours and Owls and provide UOW’s famously beautiful and leafy campus as the festival’s new home, the University has ensured that Wollongong’s premier home-grown music festival, one of the Illawarra’s biggest annual events, stays in the region.

The Yours and Owls Festival not only allows thousands of locals to enjoy some of Australia’s top live acts as well as headline performers from around the world, it will also draw an estimated 15-20,000 music lovers each day – with around 70 per cent of those coming from outside the Illawarra – providing an economic boost to Wollongong businesses and creating local jobs.

Professor Davidson said that hosting the Yours and Owls Festival fitted perfectly with the University’s role as an anchor institution for the Illawarra and would showcase the campus to thousands of new visitors.

“UOW is part of the fabric of our community. We want it to be a place of world-class teaching, learning and research, but also a place where everyone feels welcome and where those connections come to life,” Professor Davidson said.

“The Yours and Owls Festival is a chance for us to show off the beauty of our campus, to encourage the community to have fun and enjoy some of the best live music around in a safe and relaxed setting.

“Now, more than ever, universities are critical to the success of local economies. We are delighted to be the home of Yours and Owls Festival.”

Sustainability will be front and centre at the festival, with UOW and Yours and Owls taking a proactive approach to minimising the event’s impact on the campus environment.

The festival will contribute towards new PV solar panels that will be installed on the UOW Library roof. The panels will deliver approximately 82,500kWh of solar power each year, with the long-term aim to power the festival purely by renewable energy sources.

Yours and Owls was created by three UOW alumni, Ben Tillman, Adam Smith and Balunn Jones.

The festival runs from noon to 11pm on Saturday and from noon to 10pm on Sunday.

The 2023 Yours and Owls Festival is supported by Wollongong City Council and Destination Wollongong.