While last year was characterised as a worrying year of change for the Aussie music festival market, as many big name players felt the squeeze – or worse – were cancelled entirely.
But while the large-scale events seemed to suffer a downturn, smaller scale boutique festivals are popping up all over the country and enjoying great success.
Case in point, a brand new player on the Sydney festival scene announced last November that is now making plans for a 2014 edition following a hugely successful launch.
How huge? 50,000 patrons descended on Gunnamatta Park in Cronulla over three sun-drenched days for the inaugural Endless Summer Fesival, a free community-minded music event presented by Southside Events with the support of the local Sutherland Shire.
The first ever Endless Summer’s well-curated lineup enlisted the talents of headliners Bluejuice and The Preatures to play at the bayside park’s natural amphitheatre, alongside a bill that included emerging favourites like singer-songwriter Dustin Tebbutt, the funkified Touch Sensitive, and young Tassie star Asta.
The summer soundtrack lasted from midday ’til 9pm each day while patrons of all ages also enjoyed Endless Summer Festival’s pop-up market stalls, sophisticated culinary selections, and family friendly activities (such as mini golf, a bouncy castle, and face painting). “I feel like we’ve put Cronulla back on the map – it was an iconic summer event and hopefully it is here to stay.”
The driving force behind the event is Southside Events promoter Mario Kalpou; “I wanted to show just how awesome Cronulla is, I feel like we’ve put Cronulla back on the map as family friendly with an outstanding cultural community,” he says. “It was an iconic summer event and hopefully it is here to stay.”
The blockbuster 50,000 attendance figures (by contrast, that’s more than the combined 43,000 tickets across all three legs of the recent Falls Festival) means that plans are already well under way for staging a return in 2014.
Mr Kalpou chalks the event’s success down to utilising the busy summer peak and post-Christmas holiday, its strong lineup, community-minded activities, and various food and beverage options.
“[Cronulla’s] hospitality scene is starting to boom and it’s beautiful geographically. It’s got a lot going for it.” He should know, Kalpou is the owner of locally acclaimed restaurant, The Old Library, who also managed the catering for the event.
Festival-goers were treated to a gourmet menu that was closer to restaurant quality than the usual chips and hot dogs options of most major music events, with a gastronomic lineup that included The Great Australian BBQ, Foodies Deli Café, Notaras Seafood City, Pure Gelato, and Love Crepe, while thirsts were quenched by Lisa McGuigan Wines, Chandon, and Asahi Beer.
The Old Library also served up 200 litres of gelato, 100 kg of calamari, 10,000 arancini balls, and 4,000 zucchini flowers to the hungry crowds over December 27th to 29th. “There was no alcohol-related violence and no medical issues. It could couldn’t have gone smoother.”
“There was a great vibe, the musicians were great and the artists all got a lot of exposure,” Mr Kalpou told the local St George & Sutherland Shire Leader, with the only minor incident involving a hip hop act’s swearing in front of the all ages crowd, offending one festival-goer.
“We do apologise but we did nip it in the bud very quickly and it was a small incident,” Mr Kalpou said. Police swiftly intervened during the set to speak to the performer about his offensive language, while local council received few complaints (just two prior and two more after the event) about the 50,000 strong crowd.
Otherwise, “there was no alcohol-related violence and no medical issues. It could couldn’t have gone smoother,” says Kalpou, noting that even the weather was “magical,” appropriate given the festival’s namesake.
“We couldn’t have asked for more with the weather,” he said. “We had perfect summer days, just as it should be for a summer focused festival.”
A “HUGE thank you” on the Endless Summer Festival Facebook page notes the enthusiasm for the event’s continued success into the future. “We are really looking forward to delivering an even bigger and better festival next year in 2014.”
(Image: Endless Summer Festival. Source: Facebook)
