Whichever way you spend your New Years, the most hyped night of the year can more often than not be a letdown. Unless of course you were lucky enough to attend Lost Paradise, in which case you will have had no such problem. This year, Lost Paradise was an ideal way to send off the year that was and bring in the one ahead.

Around 11,000 punters did the right thing and battled through the heat over four days to see a wide-ranging selection of bands and DJs across 4 stages. While the festival’s overall size is quite a bit smaller than your usual blockbuster, there are enough big name acts to challenge any festival line up over New Years. Somewhere between a mainstream/indie festival and a secluded bush doof, Lost Paradise is unique in the Australian festival landscape. 

Amid the tall eucalypt trees of Glenworth Valley, big names such as Peking Duk, The Kooks and Joey Bada$$ all graced the main stage. Contributing to the real vibe of the festival, every person we met was friendly and welcoming with an impressive (albeit if sometimes only for effort) fancy dress participation that really added to the unusualness yet openness of the festival. If the main stage was not your thing, one could head over to any of the other three stages and dance your year away to world-class electronic music. Lost Paradise is the kind of festival we could go along to without knowing a single name on the bill, yet happily get lost in the overall experience.

One aspect that really sets it apart is the stunning location in Glenworth Valley, situated around an hour north of Sydney. The layout of the festival is well plotted with the campsites placed along a creek that runs throughout. Here you will find where a lot of punters cool off and rest their sorry heads during the day until it all kicks off for another round in the afternoon. The stages are close to the campsites and yet not too far apart to ensure a stroll through the grounds in down times is well worth the effort.

If you missed out this year tough luck. There's always next year. For now check out the best photos we got from the festival below.