Is Australia's festival scene the best it's ever been?
A slew of small festivals are keeping the country's scene firing
One of the best-placed people to speak about the demise of Australia’s large touring festivals is Stereosonic founder Richie McNeill.
He reckons they are simply too big and, with an increase in costs associated with running the events, there's just not enough money in them anymore. “I always said as soon as [past Australian touring festivals] Stereo, Big Day Out, Soundwave, Summadayze, Future Music, Good Vibrations and V Festival all went above a $150 ticket price, it was the beginning of the end,” McNeill says. He doubts Stereosonic will be back after its announced “hiatus”.
“It was my baby, so of course [I’m] a little sad [about the festival’s situation]", says McNeill, who sold the event to SFX in 2013. “Yet I am always a believer that from the end of one thing another rises in its place. And, well, I am working on something now with a few peeps and it will be announced soon.”
So, having just finished Carl Cox’s new festival PURE in Melbourne and Sydney (and already begun planning 2017), what’s next for the man who started Stereo?
“I am launching a new festival in December and have a camping festival launching next year,” McNeill says. “Heaps of tours. Heaps of new events. You’ll just have to wait and see. Can’t let too much out of the bag.”
Boutique partying down under looks to be in safe hands.
Scott Carbines is Mixmag's Australian Digital Content Editor, follow him on Twitter
