Laneway Festival announces dates and locations, but stays quiet on Charli XCX rumors

A Laneway Festival promotional billboard is seen at Ponsonby in Auckland on October 2, 2024.
Photo: RNZ

Rumors are flying about who could headline the next Laneway Festival as organizers announce dates and locations.

On Wednesday, festival organizers announced that the first leg would take place at Western Springs in Auckland on February 6, 2025. The festival will then head to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and finally Perth on February 16.

While organizers won’t reveal the line-up until October 9, social media users are wondering who could headline the event as a Laneway billboard appeared in Auckland.

The neon green sign with “laneway” written in Arial font – similar to the design of English singer Charli XCX’s latest album, Kid – was spotted in Ponsonby on Wednesday.

Fans think she could be the headliner of the event because she recently teased her overseas musical collaborations by also using neon green billboards.

Some social media users also noticed online promotional materials for the festival featuring an apple – the title of a Charli XCX song in her new album.

Laneway Festival organizers declined to comment on speculation around which billboards would make the headlines, but said they were excited to share what they had in store.

Charli XCX previously headlined Laneway Festival alongside pop rock band The 1975 in 2020.

The 32-year-old’s joint concert tour of North America with Australian singer-songwriter Troye Sivan, “Sweat,” is scheduled to conclude on October 23, 2024.

New Zealand singer Lorde also appeared as a special guest to sing their collaborative track “girl, so confusing”, released earlier this year, at the tour’s Madison Square Garden arena.