Is running out of beer the most un-Australian thing ever?
Having a beer is a simple Aussie necessity – but is this the most un-Australian thing ever?
Gold Coast
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Having a beer is a simple Aussie necessity – but is this the most un-Australian thing ever?
A comedian and running enthusiast has shared his surprise after being unable to buy a beer at the Ultra Beach Festival, labelling it “the funniest thing I’ve seen in Australia”.
Ian Dowling, who is originally from Ireland, was among 10,000 to attend the sold-out show at Gold Coast’s Broadwater Parklands in April, which received rave reviews from happy revellers.
While not a big drinker – he only intended having two beers – Mr Dowling said he was surprised to find the bar had run dry by 8pm.
“They had one beer on tap in the whole place and then by eight o’clock there was none of them left and I was thinking, this is hilarious, this is the most un-Australian thing ever,” he said.
“Splendour was cancelled, then this one sold out and there was no beer.
“ ... They had one brand of beer there at the beginning when we got there at five o’clock and everything else was just Red Bulls and stuff.
“It was one beer and it was like a two per cent beer and everyone was laughing at that.
“And then within a couple of hours that wasn’t even left anymore so by eight o’clock in this big festival there wasn’t any beer left anymore, just Red Bull.
“I thought, this is really funny, this is about the funniest thing I’ve seen in Australia.”
Despite the setback, Mr Dowling said he and his friends greatly enjoyed their night at the Ultra Beach event, which featured an array of multi-award-winning artists including multi-platinum artist Zedd, A State Of Trance-boss Armin Van Buuren, global party-starter Steve Aoki, and hardstyle favourites Darren Styles and Brennan Heart.
Mr Aoki, who performed his signature stunt of throwing a cake in the face of a fan at Ultra Beach show, announced a surprise last minute performance at a Surfers Paradise nightclub favourite after the event.
“Yo Australia, I love Australia so much, that Ultra show was crazy here on Gold Coast. Last minute I’m going to be playing an after-party tonight at Bedroom, at 12AM just for one hour. It’s a last minute show for me, I just want to play, I want to play for you guys!”
Artesian Managing Partner Matt Keegan said he was delighted to welcome Mr Aoki back to the Artesian fold – he played at Cali Beach Club rooftop in 2022.
“It is an exciting opportunity to secure the partnership with Ultra Australia and help build the festival hype in the Gold Coast. The Bedroom Nightclub after-party was the cherry on top of an incredible day out at one of the world’s hottest after dark venues”.
Mr Dowling didn’t attend the after parties – on Saturday he was back training for an event of his own he’s calling ‘Immigrant On The Run’, during which he will run two 100km ultra marathons and perform comedy shows in Brisbane on the Gold Coast in aid of Orange Sky and St John’s Crisis Centre in Surfers Paradise.
Both charities help people experiencing homelessness – a cause Mr Dowling said was close to his heart.
“I kind of got in contact with St John’s a couple of years ago because I was having a down period and I realised, the only way you can pick yourself up is if you help someone else, and I started volunteering there,” he said.
“ ... I’ve nearly been homeless myself a couple of times, it’s easy to happen.
“People think they’re looking after themselves but they don’t realise how many times they’ve been looked after by their friends and family and if they didn’t have friends and family they could have been homeless.”
‘Immigrant On The Run’ will take place on July 19 and 20. Ironically, the first show will be at a brewery, where beer will hopefully be more readily available.
“How it’s going to work is, I’m going to leave Nobby’s on the Friday morning at about 5pm, run to Brisbane, and then go to Milton Brewery and do the first show there,” he said.
“And then the next morning I’ll run 100ks back to the Gold Coast and do the second show in Lone Star in Mermaid Waters.
“A hundred per cent of the money I make from the shows will go to the charities. It should be a win win. People get to help the charities and they get to have a fun night as well.”
For more information or to purchase tickets to the shows, visit iandowling.org
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