Sunshine Coast festival faces uncertain future

A Sunshine Coast music festival suffering from plummeting attendance has been handed additional funding as the region’s music industry struggles to survive.

Caloundra Music Festival.

A much-loved Sunshine Coast music festival has been thrown a lifeline as dwindling attendance and declining revenue spark questions over the event’s future management.

The Caloundra Music Festival, run by the Sunshine Coast Council, presented to the council meeting on Thursday, February 23, seeking to secure funding of $275,000 a year for three years, an increase of $50,000 a year, to ensure the event goes ahead in 2023.

The Sunshine Coast council’s economic executive Greg Laverty said the festival, established in 2007, had suffered through the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as more recent issues around staffing, changing buyer behaviour and extreme weather events.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the music festival has struggled to gain back the crowds and revenue of pre-Covid years.

In 2022 the festival recorded an attendance of 13,183 people, which was less than half of the 32,695-strong crowd in 2019.

Australian band Ball Park Music performed at the Caloundra Music Festival in 2021.

Mr Laverty told councillors results from the festival had “dropped back a little bit”, adding he realised last year’s event had not met the expectations of the council.

“2022 was not what we expected, we saw a lower number of tickets sold particularly because on the Saturday the weather was very poor,” Mr Laverty.

“From 2016 to 2019 the revenue was always above $2m, in 2022 it was $1.1m.”

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Mr Laverty said despite the poor results he expected the music industry and the event to return to normal within three years.

While the funding request of $275,000 per year for three years was ultimately supported by the Sunshine Coast Council unanimously, some councillors expressed concerns of the festival’s future and a review into the event has been ordered.

Councillor Maria Suarez said the council should consider seeking another group to host the event if the attendance and revenue continues to fall, proposing they commit to only one year of funding.

“Returns on investment on the current model are unpredictable and risky, council could investigate the opportunity to invest the same amount of funding on either another entity to deliver Caloundra Music Festival with the same benefits,” Ms Suarez said.

ILLY at the Caloundra Music Festival 2016.

However, Caloundra councillor Terry Landsberg said he was pleased the funding had been granted for the full three-year term.

“It is a great outcome, it continues to support the event for another three years and gives them confidence to schedule some great Australian artists, “Mr Landsberg said.

“We have seen major music events cancelled due to the global pandemic and had concerns over how we continue to support the industry, but when you see the economic benefit it contributes to the local economy it’s obvious it’s very important.”