Half-century milestone of Sunbury Music Festival to be acknowledged

50 years after its first electrifying run, Hume City Council is holding a commemorative event celebrating the Sunbury Pop Festival at one big show at The Nook on Saturday 13th April 2024.

Sunbury '24 will be a celebration of the original Sunbury Pop/Rock Festivals which were held from 1972 to 1975, and which are seen as having been a watershed moment in Australia's music history.

Sunbury '24 will honour the festival's cultural legacy through a mixture of performances by original festival artists and contemporary Australian acts.

Regarded as the event that put Australian music festivals on the map, the Sunbury festivals were the event to see artists such as Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Queen, Skyhooks, Deep Purple, Renee Geyer.

Sunbury '24 will be a coming together of old and new fans alike. A packed schedule of live entertainment will be accompanied by an on-site photo exhibition and clips of the festival, helping bring the memory of the original Festivals to life.

Headlining will be rock greats Ross Wilson & The Peaceniks, Richard Clapton, and Joe Camilleri & The Black Sorrows.

Explaining the significance of the event, Hume City Mayor, Naim Kurt stated “the call to celebrate this undeniable piece of Australian music history has been coming for some time and Council knew that a 50-year commemoration event was the perfect time to make that happen.

"We're thrilled to have secured artists from the original festival's run to truly celebrate the legacy it created for Sunbury, and we can't wait for a new generation to make music memories at Sunbury '24."

The fully licensed event will have plenty of delicious food and drink from local businesses.

An accompanying exhibition at the Sunbury Gallery (Hume Global Learning Centre - Sunbury) will dip into the rich archive of popular memories of the time, and reflect on the importance of one of the most pivotal moments in Australian music.

While we are excited Hume to be hosting this major cultural event in our backyard, the lasting impact of the original Sunbury Festivals is set to draw the attention of music lovers from all over, bringing a healthy boost to our local economy.

Tickets go on sale Monday 26th February at midday.

Image: The Sunbury Pop Festival in 1975. Licensed under Wikipedia Creative Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0. Billy Bob Marley.