Buskers by the Lake festival cancelled for 2023 amid Sunshine Coast Council stoush

A major busking showcase formerly based on the Gold Coast has canned its main Sunshine Coast event ahead of what was to be its 10th anniversary celebrations. See why the organisers want an investigation.

Buskers by the Lake founder Cindy Jensen announced her festival has been cancelled this year.

A rift has opened up between a major event organiser and the Sunshine Coast Council after the former Gold Coast-based event was canned just weeks out from opening night.

Buskers by the Lake founder Cindy Jensen announced this week the 10th anniversary edition of the festival had been cancelled just five weeks out from opening.

More than 200 artists had been locked in for the festival, which started in 2014 on the Gold Coast before Ms Jensen said she was lured north by the Sunshine Coast Council to the Lake Kawana precinct.

Ms Jensen said ticket sales or funds were not the issue, but it was her dealings with the council that had sparked her decision to can the event.

The festival organiser has now launched a petition calling for an investigation into the council.

A council spokesman said the organisation had not received “any advice from the promoter that the event has been cancelled”, a claim Ms Jensen disputed, saying she’d advised council of her intention to cancel the main event in writing earlier this month.

The spokesman said the council was supporting this year’s festival through its Community Grants Program and venue hire of the Sunshine Coast Stadium, after the independent Sunshine Coast Events Board had unanimously decided in December last year not to fund the event.

“This was based on an assessment of the projected economic impact the applicant had forecast, combined with two years of previous event data,” the council spokesman said.

Buskers by the Lake was one of 22 applications considered by the board from July 2022- January 2023.

Buskers on the Creek organiser Cindy Jensen relocated her festival to the Sunshine Coast.

It was understood the annual commitment sought was much higher than the amount offered in 2023 — understood to be just under $40,000 including costs of the council venue hire and staffing.

Ms Jensen said the latest offer had been made on the basis no negative comments were made about the council.

It was understood refraining from making disparaging remarks about the council was included among the standard clauses for all funding recipients of the council’s community grants, discretionary funding or major events sponsorships.

The Buskers by the Lake festival had been affected by Covid in 2021, but Ms Jensen said ticket sales for the 2023 edition had been “exceeding expectations”.

The council spokesman said council staff had provided support and advice to event organisers in regards to a review of the event model, location in the region and budget.

“Event organisers were given the opportunity resubmit a revised application for the SCEB (Sunshine Coast Events Board) to consider at their January 2023 meeting,” the spokesman said.

“The event organisers advised they would not re-scope the event from its original format, and the Board therefore upheld their original recommendation.”

Buskers on the Lake had been a festival held at the Lake Kawana Precinct. Picture: Lachie Millard

Ms Jensen said she felt she was being pushed into falling under one of either the Caloundra Music Festival or Horizon Festival schedules, rather than remaining as a standalone festival.

She claimed the council advised that Lake Kawana was no longer a suitable venue, despite earmarking it as the venue when she was sought out to relocate, and her request for rebranding support had been denied.

Ms Jensen said the council’s behaviour towards her had illustrated to her it “fundamentally misunderstands its role within the community”.

“They seem to act more like a commercial enterprise in direct competition with other businesses, than a local government that can encourage private investment for the benefit of the community,” she said.

DW Sound owner Heath Moore also questioned the council’s approach to the sector given the demise of events like Ocean Street World Festival and Big Pineapple Festival in recent years.

Ms Jensen was now desperately trying to book the artists into venues around the region as part of a reimagined 10th anniversary edition dubbed ‘Gypsyland on Tour’, with several venues already committed to booking some of the acts.

She “profusely” apologised for the inconvenience of the cancellation and said full refunds would be issued to ticketholders of the main two-day event and a revised schedule of events would be updated.

In 2019 Ms Jensen opened up to the Gold Coast Bulletin about the demise of her Buskers by the Creek event, citing the lack of support and ongoing financial burden.

The council spokesman did not respond directly to questions about the council’s position in relation to Caloundra Music Festival and Horizon Festival and how it manages its role as a player in the local events space.

The council did not respond to the question of what the estimated loss of economic benefit the cancellation of Buskers by the Lake represented.