On December 8, TikTok is hosting its first-annual ‘For You Fest’ and it’s set to be one, big celebration of local talent. The show is honouring all of the weird, wonderful, and downright hilarious videos on the platform by also crowning the top Aussie creator from the year and the top three are, rightly so, exactly who you think they are.
The ‘For You Fest’ is kind of a big deal, with talent from all corners of Australian TikTok coming together for a one-night-only live comedy and music show hosted by The Inspired Unemployed (so, you already know it’ll be a good time, right?). The night — which will stream live through the TikTok app — will be all about comedy, pranks, and music with performers like Peach PRC, Ula, and Masked Wolf set to take over the platform along with special guests like comedian Nazeem Hussain and Avneesha.
Let’s be honest, regardless of who officially wins the title of “Creator of the Year”, the ‘For You Fest’ will be a bloody good time and all three of the finalists below are winners. But to get to know them a little better, we’re giving you the full rundown below.
Millie Ford, @milligram96
Perhaps one of the most recognisable Aussie faces on TikTok, Millie Ford is a Sydney-based creator who shares painfully relatable videos that, for better or worse, transport you back to your teen years.
That’s right, the awkward phase will come hurtling back into your consciousness when you see Millie embody your mum (wearing a Kathmandu puffer jacket, of course) walking around the house on the phone, your high school art teacher ruining your major work, and hear the sound of her teacher’s keys-on-lanyard, depending on whether you were the conscientious student or the rebel at high school.
Millie has been making us cackle since uploading her first TikTok in January 2020, but it was the moment she started uploading, frankly, triggering high school videos that cemented her place at the top of our TikTok follows.
Nathan Lyons, @kookingwithakoori
A Sydney-based father of six, Nathan Lyons started his TikTok account to share budget-friendly feeds that his family loves and Indigenous soul food. Expect recipes that use devon in many, many different ways — think bolognese, as polenta-battered skewers, and in a snack pack. Other iconic ingredients you’ll see a lot of are KEEN’s Curry Powder and pantry staples like sweetened condensed milk and instant mash.
Since starting his channel in late 2019, Nathan’s videos have gained huge popularity and earned him a book deal and in July 2021, he released his book Kooking With a Koori. In the book, Nathan shares the same sort of budget-friendly recipes as he does on his TikTok, which can feed the family for under $8.
Nathan’s videos are super relatable and lighthearted, earning him more than 1.8 million likes on his videos and landing him a spot in the top three Aussie TikTok creators from the past year.
Walt, @oneminmicro
Lovers of science, photography, or generally very cool videos will probably already be across Walt, aka @oneminmicro. For the uninitiated, Walt’s schtick is taking microscopic videos of bugs, bacteria, and household items to offer a brand new perspective of average items that you’ve definitely never seen before (unless you’re among his 670K followers). Through a genuine love of science and endless curiosity, Walt zooms all the way in to show the microscopic structure of leaves and the many (many, many) hairs on a tiny jumping spider to give us a look into a world that we never asked for, but very much enjoy peering into.
There’s a reason Walt has gained 8 million likes on his videos and found his name on the list of the top three Aussie TikTok creators for this year.
To catch all the fun from TikTok’s first-ever ‘For You Fest’, head to the app on December 8 at 8 p.m. (AEDT) to tune in live. You can also download the TikTok app right now to check out all the videos by the incredible creators we mentioned above.