PAUL MITCHELL and PETA-MARIE PHILIPPOU
COUNTRY music fans voted with their feet over the long weekend, triggering the likely return of an official Riverland festival in 2022.
A shortage of volunteers after the 2019 event and the 2020 Covid write-off saw the demise of both the SA Country Music Festival and its organising body, the Riverland Country Music Club, but individual venues that booked their own acts reported strong attendances last weekend.
Former festival organiser Dot McDonnell said momentum was building for a festival to return, albeit in a shortened format.
“We’ve already made plans with the venues,” Mrs McDonnell said.
“They want it on every year, but maybe just for the five days, rather than the traditional 10 or 12 days.
“We’ll organise acts for some of them, some of them will arrange their own, but we’re definitely talking about getting some kind of organisation going.”
Throughout its history, the SA Country Music Festival – which included a talent quest – was based mainly around Barmera, and at its height attracted thousands of visitors to the region over the June long weekend.
Without a governing body, local venues simply booked their own acts this year and Barmera Central co-ordinator Kelsey Hogan said reports had trickled in of pleasing crowd numbers.
“Venues such as the Barmera Hotel, Cobdogla Club, Lakes Café, Barmera Bowling Club, Barmera Caravan Park, Overland Corner Hotel, Lyrup Club, Lake Bonney’s Discovery Park, and Cobdogla Caravan Park each organised their own artists themselves,” she said.
“The festival was missed last year so it was great to see so many venues organise events and see them all draw in a large crowd.”
Mrs McDonnell and her husband – and country music performer – Murray have been long-serving festival supporters and are adamant an opportunity exists for the Riverland to sustainably host an annual event.
“It will go ahead because the venues want it to,” Mrs McDonnell said.
“Plus no one else is game enough to have a country music festival in winter, so it helps draw people to the Riverland.
“The country music festival doesn’t have to stop, it’ll just run without a talent quest. Even the Tamworth Country Music Festival’s talent show has faded out, because kids and their parents want to go on Australia’s Got Talent and stuff like that now.”
Mrs McDonnell said the Cobdogla Club was booked out for several shows over the weekend, further fuelling the desire to re-establish a formal festival next year.
“We’ll fire it up again,” she said. “We love it.”