Huge attendances for Darwin Festival, Gympie Muster
Winter festivals continued to be big drawcards, with both the Darwin Festival and Queensland’s Gympie Music Muster reporting huge numbers through the gatesover the weekend.
The Darwin Festival (August 10—27) drew 85,000 attendees to 244 events in 30 venues across the city.
Gross box office receipts were up 70% from last year. Organisers say that the festival achieved its highest ticket sales since 2013, with a 75% increase in ticket numbers from last year to 36,500.
This year’s program showcased 599 performers, including 318 local Northern Territory artists.
According to Acting Artistic Director Felix Preval, the most popular music acts were A.B. Original, Ali Barter, The Modern Maori Quartet and Tijuana Cartel.
Other music acts included Yirramal, Felix Riebl, Gold Class, Clairy Browne, Hart, Dappled Cities, Kim Churchill, Shellie Morris, Camp Cope, Confidence Man and The Skinnyfish Sound System.
Organisers also noted that Darwin Festival broke other records.
50% of its shows sold out while additional shows were put in to meet demand.
It recorded its two highest-grossing days in succession, representing a 42% increase on the previous record for a single day’s takings last set in 2014.
The event also drew a record 58 corporate sponsors, with 25 new brand partners joining this year.
It also proved to be a tourism draw. Preliminary research data revealed that one in four attendees were from outside Darwin.
“This is encouraging data,” said Executive Director Emily Mann. “25% of our visitors travelled to Darwin for August and the many fantastic cultural events on offer.
“This figure represents a doubling of our recorded out-of-town visitors from last year.”
The 36th Gympie Music Muster (August 24—27) drew close to 30,000 at Amamoor Creek state forest, aided by near perfect weather and a strong round of acts.
Campgrounds were at capacity by the second day, and organisers reported no troubles over the four days.
Jessica Mauboy’s set, peaking with the crowd singalong of her version of Crowded House’s’Better Be Home Soon’, was described by organisers as drawing “the largest numbers seen for a headline act in many years.”
Adam Brand brought up young members from the crowd to main stage, giving them each a signed guitar.
Busby Marou also drew a huge turnout for their set on the natural amphitheater hill, with a huge singalong for their ‘mateship and making a difference’ anthem ’Paint This Land’.
Unexpected collaborations were par for the course.
Brooke McClymont joined husband Adam Eckersley;Dean Ray and Melanie Dyer did a duet; Brand and Travis Collins shared the stage for a rendition of’I Fought the Law’; and Jessica Mauboy invited her friend from Tamworth, singer songwriter and The Voice 2017 contestant, Loren Ryan, to join her set.
Reece Mastin joined duet partner Caitlyn Shadbolt for an unexpected sing, and later at the Fender Jam, guitar shredding alongside Travis Collins, Adam Eckersley, Joe Robinson and Matt Smith of Thirsty Merc.
Over its 36 years, the Gympie Muster has raised over $15 million for various charities.
This year’s charity partner Mates4Mates assists ex-servicemen and women when they return from duty.
The charity’s on-site team collected donations from the crowd over the four days, although the final tally is still to be confirmed.
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