Triple J One Night Stand: Lismore business owners, politicians and residents back music festival bid after record 2022 floods

Two years after floods rocked the regional hub, Lismore is rallying to attract a major music festival to boost morale and showcase all the resilient North Coast city has to offer.

The crowd as Hilltop Hoods performs at the 2019 triple J's One Night Stand at Lucindale. Picture: Tom Huntley

As Lismore claws back to normality two years after the catastrophic 2022 northern NSW floods, the community has rallied behind a bid to host one of the nation’s biggest music festivals.

Mayor of Lismore Steve Krieg is just one local politician who has thrown his support behind his town’s push to host Triple J’s popular One Night Stand, after the event’s five-year absence.

It’s an all-ages touring music festival which turns regional towns and cities into live music extravaganzas, featuring some of Australia’s hottest acts.

One Night Stand has previously featured Flume, Silverchair, Matt Corby, PNAU and Ocean Alley, to name but a few.

Attendees at Triple J's One Night Stand, Geraldton in 2016. Supplied by Triple J.

Mr Krieg said: “Why not here?”

“We’ve got as much to offer, if not more, than any other regional town centre,” he said.

“It’s a great festival – it’s family focused, it’s an all-ages event and that’s the type of demographic we’re trying to attract back into Lismore, so for us it ticks all the boxes.”

Mr Krieg said the festival would be a huge boost to the city as it recovers from the floods.

“Anything that can boost our economy has got to positive,” he said.

“For me, as the mayor though, I also want to test ourselves … I want to test our facilities that have been rebuilt because, as a city, we’ve made the commitment to rebuild.

“Some of our facilities are the best in the state and we want to put that claim to the test by hosting 20,000 plus.”

Lismore was perhaps worst hit in the floods, though much of northern NSW copped a battering, including the Byron, Ballina and Tweed shires.

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg. Picture: The Northern Star

The mayor’s sentiments were echoed by business owners and residents, who all said they were thrilled about the prospect.

Matt Bone, owner of Planet Music, described the pitch as “an excellent idea”.

“With everything that Lismore has gone through with the floods, the entire CBD was destroyed and so many people lost their homes, so it would be really nice thing,” he said.

Mr Bone said he believed Lismore’s creative community – home to bands like Grinspoon – made it the “right home” for a major music festival

“We’ve got the Northern Rivers Conservatorium of Music here and got the Bachelor of Contemporary Music course at Southern Cross University … (plus) there’s a really cool underground music scene in Lismore,” he said.

Part of Lismore on March 31, 2022. Picture: Dan Peled

Kathryn O’Neill, the owner of Lismore’s Dragonfly Cafe, said her “welcoming, diverse and creative” town was the perfect spot for One Night Stand.

“The whole town is aware of the push and there seems to be a lot of support,” she said.

“Lismore copped it pretty bad in 2022 with the floods and the recovery is ongoing.

“ I bought my cafe back but we’re still struggling because we’ve lost a lot of our population.

“So a festival would be a great boost for the people and the businesses — but mostly for the people — because it’s been a hard road for us and it would be something the whole town could get behind and look forward to.”

Kathryn O'Neill, owner of Dragonfly Cafe, Lismore. Picture: Supplied

Lismore MP Janelle Saffin took to Facebook to voice her support for the event.

“I’m backing Lismore to host the Triple J One Night Stand!,” she wrote.

“With one of the biggest artist populations outside the cities, we are the perfect place to host it. It would be a boost for our flood recovery and for local businesses.”

Page MP Kevin Hogan also jumped on board the push and said Lismore would be “the perfect location”

“We have the facilities to hold a live music festival and accommodate the crowd, he said.

“Our community would get right behind it being held locally, and it would be wonderful for the local economy.

“It would also go a long way in demonstrating Lismore is open for business after what has been a difficult couple of years for the community.”

One Night Stand ran from 2004 and 2019 and is a one-day, all-ages, drug and alcohol-free event.

The decision to revive the beloved event after a five-year break flies in the face of recent setbacks for the live music industry, most notably the high profile cancellation of Splendour in the Grass.

Triple J will be approached for comment about the Lismore bid.

People keen to see One Night Stand take over Lismore can nominate their hometown here.

Originally published as Triple J One Night Stand: Lismore business owners, politicians and residents back music festival bid after record 2022 floods