Gympie Music Muster generates $6.78m for QLD

The Gympie Music Muster injected $6.78 million into the Queensland economy last year, a rise of 10% from 2013.

It also had an economic impact of $5.07 million for the Gympie region, up 7%. It drew an aggregated 66,000 people over four days, and created 84 full time jobs.

“We hope to beat these figures this year,” announced Festival Director Jeff Chandler, who helms his third event in 2015.

Chandler was speaking at the festival’s launch at the Gympie Show, where he unveiled the latest round of artists. He also pronounced the return of the pre-Muster Street Party, which attracts 4,000 and is held as a thank-you by the festival to Gympie residents. The Muster’s two ambassadors, Adam Brand and 2014 X-Factor top five entrant Caitlyn Shadbolt performed.

“It’s no secret that people in country Australia work hard and sometimes they do it tough,’ said Brand. ‘That’s why I’m proud to represent a festival that contributes so much to rural Queensland, and has been giving back for 34 years now.”

The latest acts unveiled are Melinda Schneider, Shane Howard, Jetty Road, Kristy Cox, Roo Arcus, The Mercurys, Jenny Queen, Mickey Pie, Muster Poets, Stealing Lincoln, Matt Stillert, Lawrie Minson (providing a harmonica workshop), The Lindsay Butler & Shaza Leigh Show, Adi Burgess, Killing Time, Mitchell King and Tim Gaze who is running a guitar workshop.

Between Thursday August 27 and Sunday 30, they join a list headed by Brand, Sheppard, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Troy Cassar-Daley, Amber Lawrence, Ian Moss, Catherine Britt, Luke O’Shea, Ross Wilson, Morgan Evans, Tift Merritt, Wagons, Mental As Anything, Jasmine Rae and Drew McAlister.

“Country music is the focus of the Muster, for sure,” Chandler told TMN. “But we're also into showcasing many of its offshoots, like blues, folk, bluegrass, gospel and rockabilly.”

According to Chandler, the average age of a Muster attendee is 43, mostly regional white collar workers. It is skewed towards females (55:45) who tend to attend in groups.

In recent years, there has been a growth in under-25s, a demographic expected to rise this year with the inclusion of Sheppard, who asked to be on the bill after pulling out in 2014 to play dates in America when their records started exploding there.

The lure for younger fans has also been facilitated after the Muster began day bus trips from nearby areas as Noosa, Harvey Bay and Bundaberg. Last year, there were 2,284 day trippers, an astonishing 208% rise on 2013.

The Muster’s marketing has shifted since former artist manager Chandler took over. Given that several thousand tickets are sold even before the artists are announced, the festival advertises itself through two TVCs. One focuses on the artists, the other on the Muster experience. There has also been profile-building through social media (Brand alone has 91,000 Facebook followers), and directly to folk clubs, blues gigs and nomads in caravan parks.

The Muster is held at the 50-hectare Amamoor Creek State Forest Park, 40 kms southwest of Gympie and a two hour drive from Brisbane. It began as a humble community fund raiser in 1982. It has since raised $14 million for charities, with 50 community groups and 2,000 volunteers helping to stage the non-profit festival each year.