Crowds stay away from Sydney's Spectrum Now Festival

The first weekend of the Spectrum Now festival in Sydney’s Domain, the first major project run by Fairfax Media’s new events division, has seen a disastrously low public turnout.

The free Spectrum Playground event saw just a few hundred people attend at any point over over the weekend (14th and 15th March) at a venue which has a capacity to host up to 100,000 people.

Mumbrella reported that costs of Spectrum Now have been underwritten through a multimillion dollar sponsorship deal by headline sponsor ANZ Bank, with the media website suggesting that the low turnout will likely lead to tough questions for Fairfax from ANZ on whether its sponsorship investment has been wasted.

A spokesman for ANZ blamed recent rain for the “smaller than hoped” attendance but expressed confidence in the remainder of the festival.

A spokesperson for Fairfax told Mumbrella that Spectrum Playground drew a “good crowd and great feedback, although poor weather kept some people away as you would expect.” The spokesperson added that “Spectrum Playground is just one of more than 200 events part of the inaugural Spectrum Now festival in March,” and that “momentum will build this week for the event.”

Fairfax claimed that more that 9,000 people attended the event over the weekend, but didn’t break down how it reached those numbers. When Mumbrella visited on Sunday afternoon less than 300 people were at the free event.

The Spectrum Now festival is the biggest project led by former Tourism Australia Chief Executive Andrew McEvoy, since joining Fairfax Media just over a year ago.

With traditional newspaper revenues falling, Fairfax has signalled that it sees a significant part of its future business model based on building mass public events.

The Spectrum Now arts festival is intended to extend the brand of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Saturday arts supplement Spectrum.

When McEvoy was appointed, Fairfax Chief Executive Greg Hywood stated "events are a growth sector in the Australian economy and Andrew’s appointment will drive new revenue and greatly enhance Fairfax’s performance in the sector.”

The Spectrum Now festival runs until 29th March with larger crowds anticipated for upcoming events.

Click here to visit the festival website for the full program of events.

Image courtesy of YouTube.

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