Gympie Music Muster launches its 2025 festival in Brisbane

The Gympie Music Muster officially launched its 2025 festival program in Brisbane on Friday, highlighting a line-up of artists, a new Indigenous Showcase, and its commitment to regional impact and the arts.

Musician Jake Whittaker will be at Gympie Music Muster, just as he was at the launch in Brisbane on Friday, June 13, 2025 - Picture: Richard Walker

The Gympie Music Muster on Friday officially launched its 2025 festival program in Brisbane, highlighting a line-up of artists, a new Indigenous Showcase, and a renewed commitment to regional impact and the arts.

Tourism Minister Andrew Powell, Muster CEO Greg Cavanagh, River’s Gift Co-Founder Karl Waddell, artists and Australian Idol top 6 contestant Jake Whittaker, and a range of stakeholders and media attended the launch, setting the tone for what the Muster says will be another bumper year.

“The Muster is unmistakably Queensland, and events like it never fail to entertain and remind us why regional Queensland is at the heart of Queensland itself,” Mr Cavanagh said.

“The festival is one of Australia’s longest running country music festivals and people come all over the world for it because it’s one of the must-see events.

Gympie Music Muster 2022 | Gallery

“The Muster puts regional visitation on the map and we want to grow our regional events.

“I can’t wait to get there myself.”

With more than 140 artists and 95 per cent of the line-up Australian, the 2025 program features headline performances from Kasey Chambers, James Johnston, Casey Barnes, Sara Storer, The Choirboys, Daryl Braithwaite, Jake Whittaker, and a host of emerging talent.

Musician Jake Whittaker will be one of the headline acts at the Gympie Music Muster, and launched the Muster in Brisbane on Friday.

Jake Whittaker, famous for his country version of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody on Australian Idol, today launched the 2025 Gympie Country Music Muster on a rooftop in Brisbane.

“The best thing about the Muster is it’s so much more than just the music,” Whittaker said.

“There’s music everywhere but you know, there’s so many other things happening in the campgrounds.

“There’s such a vibe and you can’t imagine how cool it is.”

Whittaker took to the Muster stage last year before his sudden rise to fame on the reality television show and says he can’t wait to get back there.

He spoke about the early campers and how they build incredible campsites with their own bars and how the campgrounds are part of the experience.

“That was one of the highlights for me, it blew my mind to see how much effort people will go to to build such amazing setups.

“I was made a lifetime member of the Losers Bar, I went in and sang a few songs, they like to party those fellas.”

Whittaker said at the Muster, “there’s no fights, there’s no aggression. It’s one big family and we all get along really well.”

Canadian acts The Road Hammers, Alli Walker and Dan Davidson — who also serves as the Muster’s inaugural International Ambassador — add international flair to the largely homegrown bill.

Mr Cavanagh said the Muster has become a bucket-list event for music lovers across Australia.

“Until you attend the Gympie Music Muster, you’ll never truly understand the significance of this event and its importance to so many people,” he said.

“We are a family festival, a music festival, a camping festival — but we are so much more.

“We’re a community-driven, purpose-built celebration that has raised more than $21.5 million for charity since inception. We’re also proud to support 800 arts workers annually and inject more than $17 million into the Queensland economy.”

The 2025 Muster will debut an Indigenous Showcase thanks to support from the Federal Government’s Revive Live program, featuring performances by Emma Donovan, Troy Cassar-Daley, Buddy Knox, Kevin Bennett, Roger Knox and The Euraba Band, and more.

Slim Dusty with his daughter Anne, in the 1980s. The 2025 Gympie Muster was launched on what would have been Slim’s 98th birthday. Supplied

The launch also featured emerging talent Jake Whittaker who caught Australia’s attention as a top six finalist on Australian Idol this year who performed his own songs and a tribute to Slim Dusty, whose 98th birthday it would have been on Friday.

The Muster runs from August 28-31, in the Amamoor State Forest, just outside Gympie, Queensland.

Full program and tickets are now available at www.muster.com.au.

Originally published as Gympie Music Muster launches its 2025 festival in Brisbane