Crow’s Nest couple give back to supporters with free music concert

A Toowoomba region couple are giving back to their Covid-19 supporters with a free music concert. Here’s how to get your ticket to the event the is tipped to fill the void of the cancelled Gympie Music Muster.

SQUEALING PIG: Crow's Nest couple, Jason Bartholomew and Grace Lindsay from Squealing Pig Farm are giving back to their Covid-19 supporters with free music concert to make up for the cancellation of the Gympie Country Music Muster. Here's how you can get in on all the squealing good fun. Picture: Lianne B Loach

One of Toowoomba’s favourite country music concerts is stepping in to fill the void left by the recent cancellation of the Gympie Country Music Muster by putting on a big paddock party with their biggest musical line up to date.

Jason Bartholomew and Grace Lindsay of Squealing Pig Farm become the new owners of the Norville Hotel in July 2020, but when Covid struck in March that same year, the couples catering business was hit hard.

Almost 18 months ago Jason Bartholomew and Grace Lindsay from Squealing Pig Farm, home to a twice yearly bush doof event just north of Crows Nest, were on the brink of collapse following the devastation of Covid-19 on their small catering company, The Wofty Possum.

“We literally lost $150,000 of bookings in two hours, all of our weddings and a big gala we had booked were gone and we had no idea what we were going to do to stay afloat,” Ms Lindsay said.

The duo are not the type to give up without a fight and so they decided to come up with a plan to save their business and their farm.

Crow's Nest couple, Jason Bartholomew and Grace Lindsay from Squealing Pig Farm are giving back to their Covid-19 supporters with free music concert after they purchased 600 Squealing Pig cattle tags for $10 each to help support their business when Covid-19 struck, hitting their catering business hard. Picture: Contributed

“We had all of these red cattle tags so we decided to turn them into special, limited Squealing Pig Farm tags and sold all 600 of them for $10 each to our loyal supporters,” Ms Lindsay said.

“This saved us in our darkest hour and managed to help us keep us afloat and pay our mortgage, and now we want to thank all of the generous people who helped us out with a good old fashioned paddock party.”

Crow's Nest couple, Jason Bartholomew and Grace Lindsay from Squealing Pig Farm are giving back to their Covid-19 supporters with free music concert. Here's how you can get in on all the squealing good fun. Picture: Lianne B Loach

Ms Lindsay said everyone who had purchased a Squealing Pig cattle tag would receive free entry to the next music concert taking place on the property next Saturday, August 28.

She explained that the cancellation of the Gympie Music Muster had left a hole in the country music calendar and rocked the regional music industry hard with bands such as Open Season looking forward to performing at their first major gig for months.

This will be Squealing Pig’s biggest music event to date with an impressive line up including Casey Barnes. Picture: Lianne B Loach

“We wanted to give these artists a chance to perform again, these poor guys are just starting to get serious and book some awesome shows and unfortunately Covid has meant their last four gigs have been called off which has been gutting for them as music is the main source of income for most of them and our musicians are really struggling right now,” she said.

This month’s family friendly farm event is showcasing the likes of Casey Barnes, Open Season Band and Brook Schubert.

Tickets are $60 and include camping plus entry to the event and are available online here.