Start Your Engines: Summernats Drops Stacked Line-up

Summernats will return for its 36th edition in January 2024 with a line-up led by Australian rock and roll royalty and the world’s only time-travelling DJ in Jimmy Barnes, Daryl Braithwaite, Hot Dub Time Machine and The Screaming Jets.

Barnesy will headline two nights on the Canberra stage, with the festival selling season passes now after the 35th Summernats sold out. Tickets are on sale now via Oztix.

Summernats celebrated its 30th birthday in January 2017. The epic birthday bash featured the likes of hip-hop identity Drapht, contemporary outfit Spit Syndicate, Aussie rock veterans Thirsty Merc and hard rock/heavy metal group Airbourne. Summernats has been dubbed “Australia's Biggest Horsepower Party,” and for good reason.

The music contingent only makes up just one part of the broader Summernats program, which brings about 2000 of Australia's most outstanding cars to Canberra's Exhibition Park throughout the event, along with more than 100,000 fans of all things automotive. Summernats 36 will take place from 4-7 January 2024.

Jimmy Barnes’ headline status arrives as the Aussie rock music legend returns to stages this Saturday, 5 August, for Legends On The Lawn at Sandstone Point. The show marks his first performance since December 2022, before the singer’s hip surgery took place.

"I've been jumping off PAs and stomping around stages for nearly 50 years, but it's finally caught up with me," Barnes said at the time of his surgery. 

"I've had niggling back and hip issues for years, but things suddenly got a lot worse over the last few weeks, and I'm now in constant and severe pain. As everybody knows, it's against my religion to blow out gigs, but the Doctors tell me I need an operation as soon as possible, and it will really limit my movement for a few months. As much as it kills me to inconvenience everyone, I have to get this fixed so I can jump around onstage for another 50 years."

Barnes will headline Savannah In The Round festival in October. Fans of The Screaming Jets attending Summernats will hear new music, with the Better rockers due to release a new album later this year and new single, Nothing To Lose, out now.

Produced by the powerhouse that is Steve James, The Screaming Jets sound at home in their latest old-school banger. With the bass up high in the mix, a stunning electric guitar tone, steady drums and, of course, the familiar, strong vocals from Dave Gleeson, the band sounds fresh and as rocking as ever. And the guitar solo? It’s great.