Zoe Moffatt
Doubt over the future of Australian music festivals has continued to populate headlines amid the recent cancellation of long standing events.
But for the township of Sunbury, the revitalisation of Sunbury Pop was the talk of the town as thousands of festival goers filed into The Nook on Saturday, April 13.
Once described as Australia’s Woodstock, the four yearly event would draw people to a small patch of land between Sunbury and Diggers Rest to listen to the likes of Queen, AC/DC, The 69’ers and more.
Half a century later, smiling faces- some who even went to the original festival- were spotted enjoying the day which was headlined by Ross Wilson & The Peaceniks, Richard Clapton and Joe Camilleri & The Black Sorrows.
Speaking about the festival at a council meeting on Monday, April 15, Cr Jarrod Bell said Sunbury ‘24 was “an outstanding celebration of Sunbury, of Hume, of a story worth telling and an experience that transcends generations and experiences”.
“All done through a fantastic medium of music.
“We sold every single ticket within seven days. We saw people coming across from every postcode within Hume and across the country and indeed the world.
“I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback from people far and wide and the responses that we’re seeing in the survey.
“To date we have 233 responses already made and that is with a 94 per cent positive rating.”
Cr Jack Medcraft said resurrecting the festival had been a dream of his for some time and it was an exceptional day.
“On Saturday it was fantastic to see the age groups from little kids, right up to pensioners over 70 [years old] and everybody enjoyed themselves,” he said.
“I had the great fortune of meeting up with Joe Camilleri and Ross Wilson… [and they] said this was probably one of the best festivals they’d ever played at.”
Cr Trevor Dance said the event was professionally run and he was impressed with the day.
“The crowd was just absolutely well behaved, everyone got involved and it was like a modern day concert but family friendly,” he said.
“I think it’s a great activity to have another one of some sort, because it can bring people into Hume.”
While the festival might be over, residents can visit the Sunbury ’24 exhibition running until May 5 at the Hume Global Learning Centre gallery.
