Mode festival review – ‘elevated’ dance music brings new life to Sydney’s Cockatoo Island

The former penal colony has been the sandstone-and-steel backdrop for art shows, concerts and festivals - but nothing quite like Mode

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On a perfect spring Saturday in Sydney, roughly 3,000 people headed for a festival that most of the city knew nothing about.

Siloed in the heritage grandeur of Cockatoo Island and accessible only by private ferry, the first-ever Mode festival was sold on its lineup of elevated dance music" and an expansive visual arts experience". Produced by Sydney-based promoters Bizarro, who until now have largely thrown parties in clubs and warehouses, the festival promised a rare gamble in a typically risk-averse city.

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