New music festivals make good in regional Victoria

While several big-name music festivals have failed in recent years, regional Victoria has delivered three new music offerings that take advantage of attractive locations, cooperative local governments and a niche festival demographic.

Joining the summer festival scene are Beyond the Valley, set to take over where collapsed festival Pyramid Rock left off, on Phillip Island over New Year's Eve; and further east, Groundswell will offer a day of Australian music legends on the remote Lake Tyers Beach.

Adding to this is the recent announcement of the Unify Festival in South Gippsland, a two-day event promising boutique camping  and heavy music with a lineup including The Amity Affliction, Northlane and Deez Nuts.

At the end of 2013, the Pyramid Rock music festival was cancelled with organisers citing financial hardship. This was followed by Harvest Festival, held at Werribee, west of Melbourne.

This wasn't enough to deter Beyond the Valley organisers Nick Greco and Mick Christidis, who felt that the collapse of Pyramid offered a new opportunity in the music festival market.

As Christidis explains "that side of the peninsula, it draws a huge crowd over New Year's Eve. A lot of people were looking for things to do and the landscape of Phillip Island is just the perfect setting for a summer music festival.”

The area also provided a lot of willing festival volunteers sourced from the surrounding community and the two organisers said the local government, Bass Coast Shire Council, were very helpful and eager for the event to go ahead.

Greco adds "there was no option for the community last year and I think they really wanted someone to come in and fill that void.”.

With ticket sales for the two nights of Beyond the Valley going , the organisers believe they have learnt from the mistakes of the past festival and are now focusing on what's needed to reach their goal of making it an annual event.

Christidis adds "we feel like we had a lot of prior knowledge going into this about what patrons want.

Christidis  and Greco believe that festival-goers want an experience not solely based on the music, involving other attractions over the weekend.

Beyond the Valley will feature a hangover spa, a 'glamping' ('glamorous camping') option, 'chill-out' areas, art installations and a wide variety of food and drink for patrons.

Greco adds "there's been a shift away from the larger music festivals in Australia towards more this boutique option where you can tailor all the options of the festival.”

The lineup features big names such as Action Bronson, the Midnight Juggernauts and Ball Park Music, set to appeal to a specific audience in a competitive market.

Here Greco explains “it's a very competitive market out there; some of these names are very appealing not only to us but all the other festivals on the market.”

Regional Victoria has been an attractive location to successful music festivals with Groovin the Moo pleasing crowds in Bendigo for six years and Meredith and its partner festival Golden Plains attracting crowds to western Victoria since the early 1990s.

It's also proved attractive to first-time festival organisers like East Gippsland local Kevin Campbell, founder of the one-day Groundswell Ffestival.

Campbell has had a similar experience to Beyond the Valley organisers in planning the event with the cooperation of his local council.

He said East Gippsland Shire Council have been very helpful in negotiating any red tape and even offering up information he might not have previously known.

This second Gippsland festival has also had a positive response from locals in the area.

The festival will feature iconic Australian rock acts such as The Screaming Jets, James Reyne and Mental As Anything, appealing to an older crowd.

Campbell said the scenic location at Lake Tyers Beach, in addition to offering the right price, secured the lineup, stating "it's been really good because it gives an opportunity for musicians from the city to get out of their environment too.”

The festival is expecting 3,500 visitors in 2015 and there are plans to run it again in the following year.

Australia’s new generation of music promoters are the subject of a feature in the November/December 2014 issue of Australasian Leisure Management.

Beyond the Valley is being held on Philip Island on 31st December 2014 and 1st January 2015.

Groundswell is at Lake Tyers Beach on 10th January 2015.

Unify is being held on 10th and 11th January in South Gippland.

5th September 2012 - PEATS RIDGE FESTIVAL OFFERS TICKET SALES ON LAY BY