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Castaway 2026: Hilltop Hoods, Violent Soho, Amy Shark set to take the stage at Hillarys festival

Hilltop Hoods will headline the 2026-2027 Castaway Festival across Western Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales, with Violent Soho and Amy Shark among the supporting acts. The announcement highlights the trio's record seven ARIA Albums Chart No. 1s and their latest album 'Fall From the Light'.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 1 article Version 1 Coverage Aug 24, 2026 Published 1d ago

Hilltop Hoods are set to headline Australia's Castaway Festival across three cities this summer, marking another chapter in the Adelaide hip-hop trio's storied career. As reported by Billboard, the group's upcoming festival run extends a legacy that has seen them become the most decorated act in the history of the ARIA Albums Chart.

The trio — Suffa, MC Pressure, and DJ Debris — holds a record seven No. 1 albums on the ARIA Albums Chart, a feat that surpasses Australian acts like AC/DC, Powderfinger, Cold Chisel, and Silverchair. Their most recent chart-topper is 2025's Fall From the Light, which continued a streak of consecutive No. 1 debuts stretching back to 2006's The Hard Road. The band has also logged 23 entries on Triple J's Hottest 100 countdown and has won 10 ARIA Awards over a career spanning more than two decades.

Festival Lineup and Dates

Castaway Festival is set to take place across three cities: Whitfords Nodes Park in Hillarys, Western Australia, on Saturday, Nov. 21; Mornington Racecourse in Victoria on Saturday, Dec. 12; and Wollongong, New South Wales, on Saturday, March 20, 2027. Alongside Hilltop Hoods, the bill includes Brisbane rock band Violent Soho and ARIA-winning singer-songwriter Amy Shark, flanked by supporting acts Playlunch, Trials, Lyric, and Birdland.

Quotes and Reactions

Amy Shark, who is set to release her new album Soft Pop and will use the festival to debut her new tunes live to audiences, expressed her enthusiasm in a statement to Billboard: "I'm a huge fan of Hilltop Hoods and Violent Soho, I was more than happy to join the boys on the road!" She added, "I don't think you could get a better lineup. Hip-hop, rock and pop — I can't wait!"

Supporting band Playlunch also shared their anticipation, saying in a statement: "We're such big fans of all the acts on the bill and are fresh from our overseas touring of the US, UK and Europe. We've had the craziest 18 months and touring select markets with this festival is going to be insane."

Artist Background and Historical Significance

Hilltop Hoods have maintained their chart prominence for years, with their dominance dating back to 2006's The Hard Road and continuing through successive number one records: State of the Art (2009), Drinking From the Sun (2012), Walking Under Stars (2014), a 2016 remix compilation of those two albums, The Great Expanse (2019), and Fall From the Light (2025). This represents their sixth consecutive album to debut at No. 1 in Australia.

Violent Soho, known for high-energy festival sets, have also reached the top of the ARIA Albums Chart with albums including WACO and Everything Is A-OK. Meanwhile, Amy Shark's breakthrough came with 2018's Love Monster, which achieved a No. 1 position in Australia and helped her become one of the country's most prominent pop songwriters.

The three-city run continues what Billboard describes as Castaway's format of following major national headliners with rotating supporting bills across Australia's west, southeast, and east coasts.

Tickets and Presale Information

General tickets for Castaway Festival go on sale on Friday, Aug. 28, with artist, promoter, and Telstra Plus presales opening on Wednesday, Aug. 26. Ticketing details were provided by the festival's organizers.

How this outlet told it

Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC

Framing: Emphasizes Hilltop Hoods as headliners, focusing on their status, without mentioning other acts or the festival's locations. — Celebratory and factual, with a tone of admiration for the artists' achievements, e.g., 'most decorated act in the history of the ARIA Albums Chart.'

Facts Included:

Hilltop Hoods will headline Castaway Festival across three cities.
Hilltop Hoods hold a record seven No. 1 albums on the ARIA Albums Chart, surpassing AC/DC, Powderfinger, Cold Chisel and Silverchair.
Their most recent No. 1 is 2025's Fall From the Light.
Festival dates: Nov. 21 at Whitfords Nodes Park in Hillarys, WA; Dec. 12 at Mornington Racecourse, Victoria; March 20, 2027 at Wollongong, NSW.
Bill includes Violent Soho, Amy Shark, Playlunch, Trials, Lyric and Birdland.
General tickets on sale Friday, Aug. 28; presales open Wednesday, Aug. 26.
Hilltop Hoods have 23 Triple J Hottest 100 entries and have won 10 ARIA Awards.
List of Hilltop Hoods' albums from 2006 to 2025.
Violent Soho have topped the ARIA Albums Chart with albums including WACO and Everything Is A-OK.
Amy Shark's Love Monster reached No. 1 in Australia in 2018.
Shark's quote: 'I'm a huge fan of Hilltop Hoods and Violent Soho, I was more than happy to join the boys on the road!' and 'I don't think you could get a better lineup. Hip-hop, rock and pop — I can't wait!'
Three-city run continues Castaway's format of pairing national headliners with rotating supporting bills.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimHilltop Hoods will headline Australia's Castaway Festival across three cities.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC, PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimHilltop Hoods hold a record seven No. 1 albums on the ARIA Albums Chart, surpassing AC/DC, Powderfinger, Cold Chisel and Silverchair.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC
ClaimTheir most recent No. 1 is 2025's Fall From the Light.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC, PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimCastaway Festival will run at Whitfords Nodes Park in Hillarys, Western Australia, on Saturday, Nov. 21; Mornington Racecourse in Victoria on Saturday, Dec. 12; and Wollongong, New South Wales, on Saturday, March 20, 2027.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC, PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimJoining Hilltop Hoods on the bill are Violent Soho, Amy Shark, and supporting acts Playlunch, Trials, Lyric and Birdland.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC, PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimGeneral tickets go on sale Friday, Aug. 28, with artist, promoter and Telstra Plus presales opening Wednesday, Aug. 26.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC
ClaimTickets go on sale to the general public on Friday at 12pm, with artist, promoter and Telstra Plus presales kicking off from Wednesday at 11am.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimHilltop Hoods have logged 23 entries on Triple J's Hottest 100 countdown and have won 10 ARIA Awards.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC
ClaimHilltop Hoods' chart dominance dates to 2006's The Hard Road and has continued through State of the Art (2009), Drinking From the Sun (2012), Walking Under Stars (2014), a 2016 remix compilation of those two albums, The Great Expanse (2019) and Fall From the Light (2025).	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC
ClaimViolent Soho have topped the ARIA Albums Chart during their career, with albums including WACO and Everything Is A-OK.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC
ClaimAmy Shark broke through with 2018's Love Monster, which reached No. 1 in Australia.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC
ClaimAmy Shark said in a statement: "I'm a huge fan of Hilltop Hoods and Violent Soho, I was more than happy to join the boys on the road!"	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC, PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimAmy Shark said in a statement: "I don't think you could get a better lineup. Hip-hop, rock and pop — I can't wait!"	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC, PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimThe three-city run continues Castaway's format of pairing major national headliners with rotating supporting bills across Australia's west, southeast and east coasts.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Billboard as of Aug 24, 2026, 5:46 AM UTC
ClaimAmy Shark has just released her new album Soft Pop, and the festival will serve as one of the first places to hear her new tunes live.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimSupporting band Playlunch said they are "stoked" to join the "stacked lineup of incredible acts".	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimPlaylunch said: "We've had the craziest 18 months and touring select markets with this festival is going to be insane."	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC
ClaimPlaylunch said: "We're such big fans of all the acts on the bill and are fresh from our overseas touring of the US, UK and Europe."	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via PerthNow as of Aug 24, 2026, 2:48 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 1 article consulted: Billboard 18 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-24