Five festivals funded to help rejuvenate live music in SA, including the return of Myponga

In 1971, the Fleurieu Peninsula rocked to the music of new bands like Black Sabbath, Daddy Cool and Billy Thorpe. Get ready to do it all again when live music returns to Myponga.

South Australia’s “Woodstock” – the Myponga Music Festival, which brought rock icons Black Sabbath to the Fleurieu Peninsula back in 1971 – is being revived next year.

Fifty-two years after 15,000 music-lovers flocked to a farm near Myponga, local promoters want to recapture the magic with a tribute to the legendary festival.

They hope to attract a major international or Australian artist to headline the country festival but also support up-and-coming musicians and grassroots bands.

Their plans received a boost on the weekend, when the state government announced a $50,000 grant to help VRS Event Productions stage the revival.

General Admission Entertainment directors Gareth Lewis and Aaron Sandow at Adelaide Unibar. Picture: The Advertiser/ Morgan Sette

English rock band Black Sabbath arriving at Adelaide Airport, 29 Jan 1971. Here for the Myponga Pop Festival, John (Ozzy) Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.

“The extra funding pushes it to that next level,” said Scott Rich, who is part of the partnership organising the festival.

“More money means we can get a bigger headliner. It’s just great to have that confidence.”

Next year’s festival will move from a farm paddock where 15,000 people partied and camped back in 1971 to the Myponga Memorial Community Centre, which has better infrastructure for a huge festival.

It will also be held in late October or early November, rather than the January long weekend, to avoid the hot summer weather and risk of bushfires.

“The Myponga community has been awesome,” Mr Rich said. “They’re excited about the idea, too.”

The original plan was to stage a 50-year tribute on January 30, 2021, but it was derailed by Covid.

“The whole concept is to pay homage to the original festival and what that did to the community down there,” Mr Rich said.

Mr Rich, an Adelaide businessman who runs Sixth Avenue Shutters, is working with Victor Marshall, who is a partner in Grape Organisation with Hamish Henry, founder of the 1971 festival, and music promoter Rob Pippan.

Live music festivals in South Australia have received a funding boost, with the state government investing $10m to support musicians and venues after Covid hit the industry hard.

One of five events to receive $50,000 funding grants is the new Juicy Juicy Green Grass Festival at Adelaide University in March 2023, combining live music with sustainability and diversity concepts.

General Admission Entertainment co-founder Gareth Lewis, who is helping to run the event, said the industry had been through a “pretty tough few years” but was optimistic that it would get back on its feet.

“Without that groundswell of artists coming through, then the venues aren’t filling up on the weekend,” he said.

“There’s many facets to getting the industry as a whole back on its feet.

“Without this funding, getting those infantile events off the ground is almost impossible.”

More than $3m has already started to flow through to musicians, pubs, clubs and bars statewide for events, venues upgrades and performances.

The 1971 festival in Myponga – Amanda Irving of Mitcham dances – February 1, 1971

The Juicy Juicy Green Grass Festival will present local and national artists, with local breweries and wineries involved.

“We are excited to launch a new festival brand in summer that showcases the freshest emerging talent from across the country and here in SA,” he said.

“We’ll invite 10 or 20 really cool, emerging artists from across Australia and locally, alongside, 10 or 20 brewers, winemakers and people that haven’t been to South Australia before.

“We’ll make it like a Womad for beginners I suppose … for younger people.”

Other festivals to receive the $50,000 funding are the Vintage Vibes at Tomich Wines, Stonecutters, a hard rock and punk festival, and Fats’ Beach Party, a summer festival on the foreshore at Glenelg.

Minister for the Arts, Andrea Michaels, said her department was determined to see the industry recover, having allocated $3m of the $10m so far.

“The demand for every element of the recovery package is a testament to the need for this level of support,” she said.

“We are doing exactly what we said we’d do when we launched our $10m live music support package in June.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, our live music scene has witnessed major job losses, the cancellation of thousands of major events and artists performances and closure of many small businesses.”

The support package will offer a voucher scheme worth $250,000 for mental health support programs, venue upgrades and a live music advisory council.

And $500,000 will also be used to bring live music back to the Royal Adelaide Show.