The Great Escape is music festival held at Newington Armory, located within Sydney Olympic Park since 2006. Initially held over the Easter long weekend for the first two events, in 2008 it was announced the festival would take place on the Labour Day weekend. It evolved from the 2005 Cockatoo Island Music Festival. The music and other attractions run over three full days (Good Friday to Easter Sunday in 2006-07), with some patrons camping from Thursday evening to Monday morning. Punters can attend either for the full weekend camping, purchase a 3 day pass and commute each day or attend a single day. Many acts also play the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival the same weekend, however The Great Escape line up is more diverse featuring pop, hip hop, electronic and rock acts that would not fit into a Blues and Roots line up. In addition to musical acts, there is also a wide range of other features such as comedy acts, bingo and trivia, conspiracy theory talks and yoga.
