Zeke Beats, Ekko & Sidetrack, two secret headliners (!): Meet Breakfest's 2020 lineup

It's impossible to find an event so ingrained in West Australia's music space as Breakfest. Since its inception in 2000, the festival has become a mecca of-kinds for dance music fans that has long positioned itself a place where those that defined sub-genres like jungle, breakbeat, dubstep and drum'n'bass can sit alongside those up-and-coming; those that are experimenting with the sounds before them and taking this niche pockets of dance music into new directions.

That ethos was very much present with the festival's inception way back when, and throughout the last 20 years - despite capturing some of dance music's biggest and most notorious names - it's an ethos withstanding all this time later. Their 2019 event, for example, featured Foreign Beggars' last ever Perth show alongside east-coast favourites such as OPIUO and a star of West Australia's next-generation in WYN; the festival drawing people in with its big names and educating everyone who's next-up by throwing new acts of tomorrow at them simultaneously.

Obviously, this year things are a little different - and not just because the festival is celebrating two decades under the sun. At one point, it was unclear whether the festival would even be going ahead, and as West Australia's relaxed restrictions made it clear that a 2020 event is possible, it threw another problem in the ring, with the festival unable to book international acts - or even interstate acts, without a major hassle - for a festival that often acts as a home to artists that without it, would probably skip out on West Australian shows all-together.

However, the festival is overcoming it with the announcement of their 2020 lineup today, specifically with it being an all-West Australian lineup that celebrates the depth of West Australia's dance music sphere and its long-winding and celebrated history. In what feels like the perfect tie-in for their 20th anniversary, Breakfest 2020 celebrates their past and future simultaneously, bringing together long-time favourites of the festival with up-and-coming stars sure not just to define WA's future, but that of Australia's dance space as a whole, and its ever-present influence in the international world.

To kick things off, there are two secret headliners still to-be-announced (we'll update this when they're announced, so stay tuned) followed by what feels like a best-of list for West Australia's dance music history and all of its little facets and sub-sections. Zeke Beats and HWLS lead the charge as two faces that have long-defined West Australia's electronic output on an international scale, followed by Ekko & Sidetrack - who is very much in a similar position, albeit within the drum'n'bass world.

Following that, there are acts that feel on the cusp of their moment; acts that will no doubt be 2021 stand-outs if everything goes to plan. There are club heavyweight Avance and his past collaborator and fellow heavyweight TWERL, nostalgia-pop rising force Reija Lee, Zombie Cats, WYN, Samantics, Ellictt and Greg Packer (the latter of which playing a classic jungle set, to celebrate Breakfest's long history with the dance music niche).

There is also a handful of acts that celebrate Breakfest's long-standing history; faces that have become distinct to the event and its journey throughout the last 20 years. Titled The Ambar Massive (a nod to the ex-dance music institution Ambar Nightclub), the acts will be commemorating classic beat music of the past 20 years; the sounds that defined the festival's beginning and earlier years. Included in that are Micah, Philly Blunt, Beatslappaz, Bezwun and plenty more.

You can dive into the full lineup below (minus the two secret headliners to be announced), and grab tickets here. As always, Breakfest will run on Boxing Day (December 26th) at Belvoir Amphitheatre.

Breakfest 2020 Lineup:

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