Gates open for free camping at 4pm on Friday, with the main event kicking off at 11.30am on Saturday with the Squid Doctors.

Mr Fletcher saw the Corowa group perform at the Push Freeza Regional Battle of the Bands.

“They are all under 20 and are incredible young blokes – they have been touring up the NSW coast,” he said.

“Following is The Faculty, a post-punk band from Melbourne, Marisa Quigley and The Kissin’ Cousins.

“Then we’ve got The Outdoor Type; they’ve just had a small blow-up in America and the lead singer is Zack Buchanan who grew up in Beechworth.”

Mr Fletcher said hip hop artist Remi, nominated for the Best Male Artist at the Age Music Victoria Awards, would be the 10^th and headline act.

“In the last 12 moths we’ve seen Remi three times and he’s coming with a full band, it’s always such a party and he’s incredible – we’ve been chasing him for two years,” he said. “We will also have three DJs.”

Aspiring musicians aged between eight and 16 will be mentored by local artists including Liv Cartledge throughout the week and will perform on Friday afternoon.

The Mayday Hills festival has now been running for five years and Mr Fletcher said it was more family-friendly than ever.

“This year we’ve got purpose-built bars, purpose-built mist and shade structures, a massive eight-metre shade structure on the arena and we’ll have more in the kids’ play area with more sandpits and jumping castles,” he said.

“And again, all our food and beverages providers will be from the North East.

“We’re absolutely chuffed by local support, with volunteers and friends who help us every year, year and it’s morphed into a child-friendly environment and we want to keep it that way.”