Wagga Wagga could put its name on the events map by hosting a music festival at one of its many big parks. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
We can all agree that Wagga Wagga can put on a great festival.
In the past decade alone, Wagga Wagga City Council has created several events that are now mainstays on the local calendar – Festival of W, Wagga Comedy Fest, Fusion, and even the Southern NSW Rugby Championships.
However, there is one thing that Wagga has continuously missed out on, and it truly boggles my mind.
Why haven’t we done more to try to attract talent for a music festival?
There’s no doubt that hosting a music festival is more challenging than before COVID-19, due to rising operational and insurance cancellation costs, and a lack of available funding and grant opportunities.
With festivals around the country slowly dying, more and more production companies are turning to smaller towns with more intimate shows as a means to put on cost-effective events.
Heck, we even had one here in the Riverina not too long ago when Tones and I, Ruby Fields, SOLI, Little Green, and Scarlett Gee travelled to Young for a sold-out gig in March as part of the SummerSalt Festival.
While Tones and I may not be everyone’s cup of tea, she is one of the most streamed artists ever on Spotify, with her track Dance Monkey having topped 3.2 billion streams.
Now Wagga has a good musical presence, yes.
The Civic Theatre, Tilly’s Nightclub and even the Birdy Bar do a great job at housing more intimate concerts, but these aren’t the huge events that are raking in thousands of spectators.
I believe we have the facilities for it, too. The Equex Centre comes to mind as an easy first choice.
There are fields and fields open to putting up a temporary stage, and if the Canberra Raiders’ visits over the past couple of years have proved anything, it’s that we can handle the parking for up to 10,000 people.
Yes, there may be an issue of clashing with local sport, but again, that didn’t stop the city council and clubs when the NRL and NRLW came to town.
Jubilee Park is the next choice.
Again, it has space to share. It is huge and well beyond what is needed for a mid-sized music festival. Could you imagine a band like Ocean Alley, Lime Cordiale, Spacey Jane or even my personal fave, Gang of Youths, headlining a gig at Jubilee? It would be awesome.
It would also be a fantastic opportunity for local talent to get involved as headliners. Local talent is screaming for a chance to perform on stages bigger than that of a pub dance floor. While sing-alongs at the pub are great, there’s something else to a wide-open stage in front of hundreds of people.
Make it a six-hour festival, give local talent a chance to perform, and it’s a win-win for everybody!
On one final note, it will also serve as a means to bring in acts that people will want to see without committing to the big arena-esque idea that the council proposed alongside the Civic Theatre in 2023.
There truly is a possibility here; let’s hope the powers that be look into it.
