Since 1992, the year it kicked off with a bang on the coattails of acts like Nirvana and the Violent Femmes, the festival has cemented itself as a rite of passage for thousands of Australian teenagers across the country.

The 20th Big Day Out had been billed as the best yet, a big bash to celebrate a worthy milestone.

Click on the image below for our great picture gallery from the Big Day Out.

In truth, the event lacked that promised killer punch, barren of any real big name international acts, and with the same sorts of local fare that have been and come before.

The exception, undoubtedly, was hip-hop star Kanye West, a consummate showman who after his opening song swaggered past fans handing out high fives on his way back to the stage.

A sea of fans crammed together as far back as the eye could see as ‘Kanye’ did his thing, and did it brilliantly.

While this year’s Big Day Out won’t go down as one of its more memorable, there were still plenty of highlights.

Earlier in the day, Melbourne all-girl band Stonefield played a rampaging set, thrilling the crowd with talent that belies their years.

Kiwi singer Kimbra, the female component to Gotye’s smash hit Somebody That I Used To Know, showed she was just as polished going solo with a crowd pleasing set, while international act Girl Talk had the boiler room in raptures and dripping with sweat during an hour-long mash up of sing-along tunes.

Known as much for the fashion as the music, the Big Day Out also didn’t disappoint in the style stakes, with plenty of statements made on the day; some, like the chorus line of girls in short shorts barely covering their backsides, not so pleasant.

Only time will tell whether the Big Day Out survives in the over-populated music festival circuit.

What is certain, is that no matter how old and outdated it becomes, a new generation of fans will line up to experience perhaps the most iconic music festival we have to offer.

In cult ’90s film Dazed and Confused Matthew McConaughey plays Wooderson, a high school drop out who never grows up. His famous line ‘‘That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age’’, rings true for the Big Day Out — each year the festival gets a little bit older; the kids........they stay the same age.