Festival Hall to keep on rocking under new owners Hillsong Church
The 5400 capacity concert venue has hosted many of the world’s most popular performers, including The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Dire Straits and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
One of Melbourne’s oldest music venues has been purchased by Hillsong Church for $21.25m, but rock ’n’ roll fans will still be able to worship the devil’s music at Festival Hall six nights a week.
“We’re not putting any massive crosses up — it stays Festival Hall and operates as Festival Hall,” said Tim Douglass, Hillsong’s pastor for Victoria and Tasmania. “You can still get your beer at your show and all the rest of it.
“Hillsong will be the tenant on Sundays, but we want to continue to book Australia’s biggest names and international artists to come and play here.”
In that sense it’ll be business as usual, as over the decades the 5400 capacity concert venue has hosted many of the world’s most popular performers, including The Beatles (1964), Frank Sinatra (1959 and 1974), Dire Straits (1981) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (1992).
Built in 1915, the venue was destroyed by fire in 1955 before being rebuilt in time for the 1956 summer Olympics.
Chart-topping Brisbane rock band Dune Rats was the last act to play there on March 8, before the pandemic forced the live music industry to press pause.
Festival Hall has been on the market since early 2018 after its previous owner, Stadiums Limited, announced that it could no longer compete with larger and newer venues.
Its initial proposal to replace the site with two 16-storey apartment towers was withdrawn after the building was added to the Victorian Heritage Register in November 2018.
The new owners plan to renovate the room, including an upgrade of the sound and lighting systems. “We’re really excited to put the best of the best in there, knowing that it will attract great artists and great acts who want to use the latest and greatest equipment,” Mr Douglass said.
“And then our guys who are in on Sundays will be quite happy to use it for church as well.”
Over the past eight years, Hillsong has hired 21 different venues across Melbourne for its Sunday services.
“Before COVID, we’ve got several thousand people in church across the weekend; at our Christmas service last year we had 12,500 people at Margaret Court Arena,” said Douglass. “We were always looking for a big space to either build upon or — perfect scenario — that there’s already a great hall we can use for church.”
Although non-churchgoers might raise an eyebrow at the idea of a religious organisation buying the hall, concert promoter Michael Gudinski is cautiously optimistic about the new owners’ intent.
“I think it’s a great thing that it will remain intact,” said Mr Gudinski, whose company Frontier Touring has booked acts such as The Police and Sex Pistols at Festival Hall. “There’s so much history and I’m sure a lot of people would appreciate the fact that the venue can continue to exist.”
