{"id":707803,"date":"2026-06-01T07:28:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T07:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/707803\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T07:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T07:28:19","slug":"teenagers-on-nsw-central-coast-create-student-led-northwave-music-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/707803\/","title":{"rendered":"Teenagers on NSW Central Coast create student-led Northwave music festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bluesfest has bitten the dust, Splendour in the Grass has gone to ground and the Big Day Out is just a memory.<\/p>\n

But, faced with the prospect of a festival-free future, seven students from Northlakes High School on the NSW Central Coast decided to create their own.<\/p>\n

Northwave was staged in the school’s gymnasium, with the teens coordinating everything from booking acts to marketing and lighting.<\/p>\n

\"three<\/p>\n

Northlakes High School students Drew Perrot-Schryver (left), Blake King (middle) and Brock Rhodes (ABC News: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n

“We couldn’t wait to have our own and show everyone what a couple of teenagers are capable of,” student Drew Perrot-Schryver said.\"an<\/p>\n

Students coordinated the marketing and band selection for Northwave. (Supplied: Northlakes High School)<\/p>\n

The event was the final assessment for their VET Entertainment Industry Studies course, which they studied alongside their regular year 12 classes.<\/p>\n

One of the student organisers, Brock Rhodes, said it was a “no-brainer” to choose a live music festival.<\/p>\n

“The previous students to do this [class] held a disco and then a haunted house, but we knew we wanted to create something totally different,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I feel very lucky to have been part of this \u2026 because we’re the first to take on a new idea but also a new set of challenges.”<\/p>\n

To fund their festival, the seven students coordinated multiple sponsorships from local businesses and raised funds at a community barbecue.<\/p>\n

\"Young<\/p>\n

Young bands from the Central Coast were chosen to play on the main stage. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n

Teacher Nathan Murray said he and the school were “completely hands-off” in organising the event.<\/p>\n

“The students had to get initial approval from the principal, and understand the equipment and equipment they’d need,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They’re so driven and keen, even though we’ve seen [festivals] get cancelled left and right, the students are really passionate about being part of the industry.”‘Hands on’ experience<\/p>\n

More than 300 festival goers filled a makeshift mosh pit built in the school gymnasium.<\/p>\n

The six bands on the bill were all young, local and predominantly in the metal or rock genre.<\/p>\n

One of the performers was local musician Cameron Barnett, who goes by the stage name Jinjo.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Central Coast artist “Jinjo” was the last act to play at the student-led music festival (ABC News: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n

He said the night may have paved the way for more events in the region’s heavy music scene.<\/p>\n

“It’s really special to give [heavier] bands a platform \u2026 our art is usually pushed to the side, but now we get to be centre stage,” Mr Barnett said.<\/p>\n

Organiser Blake King, 17, said it was unintentional that the event turned into a “rockfest”.<\/p>\n

“Teenagers want live music no matter what, it made sense to have music they could move and possibly mosh to,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The closest place for us [teenagers] to be at a big rock and all-ages festival is in Sydney, which is almost two hours away.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Blake was the sound engineer for the event. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n

The rookie promoters will gain a Certificate III in Live Production and Technical Services.<\/p>\n

Mr Murray said the exercise provided invaluable and practical experience for the students to get started in the industry.<\/p>\n

“It’s so much more beneficial to send the kids out to the world with more than just an ATAR, but something tangible on their resume,” he said.\"a<\/p>\n

The student organiser said creating Northwave was “extremely rewarding”. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n

Bigger and bolder<\/p>\n

It is the third year Northlakes High School has offered the VET Entertainment Industry Studies course.<\/p>\n

Mr Murray said the students involved had supported many other productions in addition to coordinating the live music festival.<\/p>\n

\"seven<\/p>\n

Teacher Nathan Murray (front) with the seven students behind Northwave. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n

“[The students] have helped with other musical events, the annual talent show and a film festival,” he said.<\/p>\n

“So, they’ve gained experience in a much smaller capacity to continue sharpening their skills throughout the year.”<\/p>\n

After the success of Northwave, Mr Murray said future classes would want to go bigger and bolder.<\/p>\n

“I’m not sure how the school will keep up,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I think we’ll have to hold a three-day music festival now.<\/p>\n

“But that’s the point, we want the next generation of the entertainment industry to continue to be inspired and dream big.”\"a<\/p>\n

SoulVessel were among the performers at the festival. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bluesfest has bitten the dust, Splendour in the Grass has gone to ground and the Big Day Out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,2806,134,6668,4154,344279,344281,344282,2733,327948,344280,3069],"class_list":["post-707803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-central-coast","tag-entertainment","tag-high-school","tag-live-music","tag-live-music-festivals","tag-northlakes-high-school","tag-northwave","tag-nsw","tag-san-remo","tag-student-led-music-festival","tag-teenagers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}