We did Robbie proud

SO many things could have gone wrong.

When you land the coup of attracting a global superstar such as Robbie Williams to your region, you inherit all the potential problems that come with having to co-ordinate a major event and a crowd of 20,000 people.

But everybody associated with Saturday’s Robbie Williams A Day on the Green concert at Mt Duneed Estate should be congratulated for pulling off what was billed as Geelong’s biggest ever live concert without incident.

The whole event was an exercise in logistics management and the benefits of keeping everybody involved informed.

Concertgoers had been provided with plenty of information about concert logistics, reminded about the potential traffic problems and advised to arrive early — with the car park opening more than two hours earlier than in previous events to cater for the increased traffic.

When the expected delays entering and exiting car parks did happen, crowds remained patient and generally wellbehaved. The police, road workers and volunteers who combined to man the huge task of traffic management both on the Princes Freeway, in the car parks and around the winery, did a fine job of managing the extreme traffic conditions in a calm and cool manner.

Inside the event the large crowd also seemed more interested in enjoying the experience than creating trouble, with security doing a masterful job of keeping the few troublemakers in check.

There was never any doubt that Geelong could pull off an event of this magnitude. But the efficiency with which Saturday night was managed — and the record crowd it attracted — should prove that we have both the capability and pulling power to house even the world’s biggest acts.

And when international flights begin out of Avalon Airport later this year, we will also have the ability to fly overseas acts to our doorstep.

The sky truly is the limit.