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News October 27, 2015

CMC Rocks promoters explain festival’s move to Queensland

After four years at the Hunter Valley’s Hope Estate, three-day country and roots festival CMC Rocks will move to Willowbank Raceway in Ipswich, Queensland, next year.

Now named CMC Rocks QLD, it will run March 13 -15, with US Grammy-winning band Lady Antebellum and Troy Cassar-Daley announced as first headliners. The full bill and ticketing information will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Michael Chugg, Chairman of Sydney-based Chugg Entertainment, which co-promotes the event with Rob Potts Entertainment Edge, stated, “This will be Lady A’s first ever performance at CMC Rocks. They’re one of the biggest bands in country music and will absolutely bring the house down. We’ve been working hard over the past few months to lock down one of the best lineups the festival has seen and can’t wait to reveal the full lineup.”

The news of the move was met with annoyance by some patrons who had already booked flights and accommodation in the Hunter Valley for next year.

A statement from promoters explained that “site considerations” were a major factor for their decision.

The new site is serviced by international airports in Brisbane and the Gold Coast (35% of attendees come from outside NSW) and direct bus and train services. Being close to major centres as Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich and Toowoomba, each between 10 to 90 minutes away, there will be greater accommodation options. For the first time, CMC Rocks will also introduce a tent-style motel service on-site.

In comparison, the Hunter Valley was 2 ½ hours from the nearest metro airport, with no direct train or bus services. Promoters were also concerned that hotel accommodation in the Hunter region had risen by “as much as 100%” in four years that the festival staged there, and some hotels introduced a minimum three-night stay. They also felt that the old site’s camping ground was “less than ideal.”

CMC Rocks started in Thredbo in the NSW Snowy Mountains in 2008 before moving to Hope Estate in 2011.

While crowd numbers varied from 6,000 to 11,000 over four Hunter years, it is believed the larger Queensland site could allow numbers to grow to between 12,000 and 15,000.

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