Beyond The Valley location: Barunah Plains

The site

Barunah Plains is a heritage-listed property, place H2313 on the Victorian Heritage Register, and Heritage Victoria's coordinates for it are 38.0710 S, 143.8802 E. The organiser's own directions for a phone: "If you're using a maps app, look up 'Beyond the Valley' and it'll take you to the right entrance." (home and information pages, read 22 October 2026) Open in a maps app The organiser describes the festival site in areas: The Valley Stage, the Dance Dome, Dr Dan's, Main Street, Downtown, The Woods and the Valley Club. The festival has been here since 2022, its "forever home" in the organiser's words.

From the footer of the organiser's pages, read 22 October 2026:

Beyond The Valley is held on the lands of the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation and the Eastern Maar People of southwest Victoria. We pay our deepest respects to Elders past and present and honour their enduring Custodianship. As guests on this Country, we recognise the story, spirit, knowledge and cultural meaning held in this landscape, and invite our community to join us in our shared responsibility to move with care and tread lightly throughout the celebration. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land. Sovereignty was never ceded.

By car from Melbourne and the airports

From Melbourne the organiser gives 126 km west and "just under two hours". From Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) it's about 1 hour 40 minutes, 136 km; from Avalon Airport about 55 minutes, 76 km, via the Princes Freeway (M1), the Midland Highway (A300) and the Hamilton Highway (B140). A Car Pass is needed to camp with the car; the remaining passes come in a separate on-sale "later in the year", and the BTV Car Park Pass is for the car park beside the festival, for campers and for single- and multi-day ticketholders, with no camping in it. Cars arrive in the window printed on the pass, AM 8am to 2pm or PM 2pm to 8pm, on the date of the entry ticket. Every Car Pass includes one free saliva drug test at its testing partner BMFHQ, and the organiser flags police roadside testing.

From Sydney and Adelaide

Driving from Sydney is about 10 hours 15 minutes, 981 km, by the Hume Highway, Western Freeway, Midland Highway and Hamilton Highway; from Adelaide 7.5 to 8 hours, 670 km, by the Dukes Highway, Western Highway, Midland Highway and Hamilton Highway. Without a car from Adelaide, the organiser's route is a coach to Geelong and then the BTV bus, which it estimates at 8 to 10 hours all up.

The BTV bus from Melbourne

Melbourne on the Move sells the BTV bus passes; the organiser's words are "Bus tickets are purchased externally". The Melbourne pick-up is Carlton Gardens, at the corner of Victoria Parade and Nicholson Street. Camper buses leave at 8am, 11am and 2pm on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 December and at 10am on Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 December; the return from Barunah Plains is between 9am and midday on Friday 1 January, at a time chosen at booking. Fares, on the seller's page read 22 October 2026: listed at $113 return or $56.50 one way. Campers may bring three bags and no swags, and the seller asks you to be there 30 minutes before an outbound bus, and at least 15 before the bus back.

Day transfers, and the bus from Geelong

Day transfers, one way or back the same night ("Buses back from Barunah Plains depart on the same night as your outbound transfer"), on the seller's page read 22 October 2026: from Carlton Gardens at 12pm on 29 December, 12pm on 30 December, and 11am or 12pm on 31 December; from Geelong, T.E. Bostock Memorial on Fenwick Street opposite Geelong Station, at 12pm or 2pm on 29 and 30 December and 12pm, 1pm or 2pm on 31 December; from Ballarat Railway Station and from Torquay, Beach Road at the Surf Coast Highway next to McDonald's, at 1pm on 29, 30 and 31 December. Returns leave at 11:30pm or 3:30am on the 29th and 30th and at 1am or 4:30am on New Year's Eve. One A4-sized bag a passenger, 30 minutes early, sales final. Day transfers from Ballarat or Torquay are listed at $113 return or $56.50 one way.

Camper buses from Geelong leave the same stop at 12pm and 2pm on 28 December and at 11am on 29, 30 and 31 December, with the same return rules, listed at $86 return or $43 one way. A free return shuttle from Geelong, Torquay or Ballarat was offered with single-day tickets to the first 500 buyers: the organiser's ticket items say "for either the 29th or 30th", its bus item "for either the 29th, 30th or NYE", and those tickets show "Sold out".

Are bus passes on sale?

No source marks any bus sold out, and none shows how many seats are left, so check with Melbourne on the Move before you plan around a bus. On the organiser's home page, under "How do I get BTV tickets?", read 22 October 2026: "Bus passes are still available via Melbourne on the Move". On the organiser's tickets page, read 22 October 2026, the four bus items (Melbourne CBD, Geelong, Single Day Ticketholders, Staying Off-Site) show neither a status nor a price, while every entry ticket on the same page shows "Sold out". Melbourne on the Move's page, read 22 October 2026, shows the fares and "BOOK SEATS" and "Book Now" buttons, with no availability. Its booking form lists both BTV 2026 products and shows pick-ups, times and any sold-out state only once you choose one. Melbourne on the Move, the BTV bus passes

The seller's terms, as they appear on the organiser's tickets page: a route or time slot that sells less than half its seats is cancelled and ticket holders are refunded automatically; "All ticket sales are final". Melbourne on the Move's own booking terms: "A full refund is available if the request is received more than 4 weeks before the event date", 50% within four weeks, and "No refunds will be provided within 72 hours of an event".

By public transport

There's no direct service. From Melbourne: the V/Line train from Southern Cross to Geelong Station, then the BTV bus from opposite the station. From Melbourne Airport: SkyBus to Southern Cross, V/Line to Geelong, BTV bus, which the organiser estimates at 3.5 to 4 hours. From Avalon Airport: SkyBus to Geelong, then the BTV bus, 30 minutes to an hour. The organiser points to the PTV Journey Planner for the train.

Being dropped off

Without a car, you're dropped at the Walk-In Camping entrance; Lux guests are collected from a designated spot. Geelong is about 45 minutes from the site, Ballarat about 50 and Torquay about 60; hotel packages in Geelong and Ballarat with their own daily transfers are on the camping page.

Questions readers ask