Spilt Milk 2025
Victoria Park, Ballarat, VIC
Saturday, December 7th
After a noticeable hiatus last year, Spilt Milk returned in 2025 with a lineup that blew expectations out of the water, selling the most tickets in its history within hours.
After a stacked 2023 featuring Post Malone, Latto, and Dom Dolla, festival-goers were stunned when Spilt Milk was added to the growing list of Australian festivals struggling to survive — hit by constant cancellations, rising costs, and a completely re-shaped touring economy post-pandemic.
Their comeback this year wasn’t subtle — it was a swing for the fences.
Doechii, Dominic Fike, Sombr, ScHoolboy Q, Genesis Owusu, Ninajirachi, and, of course, Kendrick Lamar—the bill was stacked from top to bottom.
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Sheets of rain and whipping wind on the drive to Ballarat hardly deterred anyone; by the time everyone hit Victoria Park, it was obvious the weather wasn’t competing with the lineup.
Upon arrival, the atmosphere felt pent-up in the best way — the sort of charge that builds when thousands of people have spent months waiting for a festival to prove something.
Mud was everywhere, spirits were high. Walking between stages felt like moving through a collective exhale — people were here because this lineup mattered, proven by the waves of people migrating from stage to stage.
After daytime sets from Rebecca Black, The Rions, and Sombr, ScHoolboy Q set the tone for the headliners early.
The crowd was bursting, and he met them with the confidence of someone who’s mastered the game. Flicking between early-2010s classics and cuts from 2024’s Blue Lips, Q reminded everyone how deep his catalogue runs; not many rappers can balance longevity, credibility, and crowd control this effortlessly.
Dominic Fike followed with a warm reset. Guitars, piano, looseness, and fun — you could feel the whole festival decompress. “White Keys” and “misses” landed cleanly as the sun descended behind the trees, and the crowd echoed his lines back at him.
“Imma let Kendrick come and do his thing — I’m just here to say hi and let you know I’m not in jail,” he laughed toward the end of his set.
While Kendrick was the obvious centrepiece, Doechii stole the show entirely.
Following the buzz around her AAMI Park cameo at Kendrick’s Thursday night show, there was expectation in the air —and she fearlessly rose to the occasion.
With DJ Miss Milan on the decks and a swamp-themed set that looked ripped from another world, she took to the stage like a headliner and the crowd reacted instantly. After notably skipping it on Thursday, “Anxiety” (among others) sent the field into a frenzy.
@userchloejoyce Doechii, Denial is a river 📍Spilt Milk, Ballart #doechii #spiltmilk #ballarat #festival #fyp
But it was Doechii’s stage presence and precision that sold the moment. When she called Spilt Milk the best crowd she’s ever had, it didn’t feel phony — it felt earned. A solo tour is overdue.
Then came Kendrick.
In the half-hour intermission between sets, anticipation thickened as the shared realisation set in: we were about to watch the greatest rapper of his generation performing in a field in regional Victoria during the most fascinating and defining chapter of his career.
Walking out to “Wacced Out Murals”, he moved through a sharp, controlled 70-minute set that felt more like a flex of discipline than spectacle. Compared to the electricity of his AAMI Park shows earlier in the week, he kept things tight.
Never fully pushing the throttle, he performed with a quiet authority only he can get away with.
Kendrick in cruise control, however, is still Kendrick. Minimal visuals; black and white silhouettes; no backing track — just long, breathless verses delivered unfathomably clean. Through the drizzle, mud, and a hungry crowd, his set was a reminder of what festivals are supposed to feel like: messy, communal, imperfect, and bigger than the conditions.
Spilt Milk 2025 was a reminder that a lineup this strong doesn’t need perfect weather. The artists just need to show up. And they did.
More information about Spilt Milk 2025 can be found here.
