By Oliver Lees
Heat, flies, lack of sleep, and some fantastic music.
These are the memories that first come to mind for Peter Evans when asked to think back to his experience at the inaugural Sunbury Pop Festival in 1972.
Those memories never quite left him over the years, and ultimately drew him to write a book about the event called, ‘Sunbury, Australia’s Greatest Rock Festival’.
“At the time we thought we were just having a great adventure, we didn’t really know that we were creating Australian musical history,” he said.
The festival has entered Australian folklore as one of the earliest outdoor festivals that was successfully run with the backing of well-financed individuals from within the music and entertainment industry.
To celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the event, Hume council is displaying an exhibit of images and original memorabilia that has been collected over the years.
Mr Evans was more than just one of the estimated 40,000 attendees at the rock and roll festival, he was a crucial cog in getting the event going in the first place.
In 1971, he attended the Wallacia Festival in New South Wales, and returned to his job as a lighting technician buzzing with the possibilities.
He described pitching the idea of a major outdoor music festival to John Fowler, his boss, who would go on to become the festival’s major promoter.
“I was raving about the festival,” he said.
“He asked rather disparagingly why anyone would want to run something like that. And I said, ‘imagine 15,000 kids times $5.’ And his face lit up. And that was where the Sunbury festivals were born.”
Mr Evans will be sharing stories from the festival and the writing of his book on Thursday February 17 from 7pm to 9pm at the Global Learning Centre in Sunbury.
Details: www.humelibraries.vic.gov.au/
