School students buck trend to stage their own live music festival

Misanthropy were the openers for the student music festival. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)

Hundreds of people attended a live music festival that was organised entirely by high school students on the NSW Central Coast.

The teens coordinated everything from booking local acts to marketing and lighting.

The event was the final assessment for their VET Entertainment Industry Studies course, providing a career pathway into the sector.

Bluesfest has bitten the dust, Splendour in the Grass has gone to ground and the Big Day Out is just a memory.

But, faced with the prospect of a festival-free future, seven students from Northlakes High School on the NSW Central Coast decided to create their own.

Northwave was staged in the school's gymnasium, with the teens coordinating everything from booking acts to marketing and lighting.

Northlakes High School students Drew Perrot-Schryver (left), Blake King (middle) and Brock Rhodes (ABC News: Shauna Foley)

Students coordinated the marketing and band selection for Northwave. (Supplied: Northlakes High School)

The event was the final assessment for their VET Entertainment Industry Studies course, which they studied alongside their regular year 12 classes.

One of the student organisers, Brock Rhodes, said it was a "no-brainer" to choose a live music festival.

"The previous students to do this [class] held a disco and then a haunted house, but we knew we wanted to create something totally different," he said.

"I feel very lucky to have been part of this … because we're the first to take on a new idea but also a new set of challenges."

To fund their festival, the seven students coordinated multiple sponsorships from local businesses and raised funds at a community barbecue.

Young bands from the Central Coast were chosen to play on the main stage. (ABC News: Shauna Foley)

Teacher Nathan Murray said he and the school were "completely hands-off" in organising the event.

"The students had to get initial approval from the principal, and understand the equipment and equipment they'd need," he said.

More than 300 festival goers filled a makeshift mosh pit built in the school gymnasium.

The six bands on the bill were all young, local and predominantly in the metal or rock genre.

One of the performers was local musician Cameron Barnett, who goes by the stage name Jinjo.

Central Coast artist "Jinjo" was the last act to play at the student-led music festival (ABC News: Shauna Foley)

He said the night may have paved the way for more events in the region's heavy music scene.

Organiser Blake King, 17, said it was unintenti