Festival shoots for 200,000 by 2020
over four days and the best part of it is it’s not going to a promoter – it goes back into the people of the city.”
Mrs McCormick said the recently completed Surf Parade upgrade and upcoming improvements throughout the precinct ahead of the Commonwealth Games would help the festival further build its crowd.
“Surf Parade is ready to go – they’re just doing a few final touches to the garden,” she said.
“The whole Surf Parade precinct is now a flat surface – no one will trip over curbs – and we can put a bigger stage in there. Last year we had 30,000 people in the street in Surf Parade and in restaurants and apartments. There was a wall of people.
“The upgrade is enabling us to step things up to that next level. The stage will be marginally bigger, better quality and we now have appropriate back of house for these sorts of musos when we’re rolling them on and off stage quickly.”
This year’s festival will include a new stage in Kurrawa Park to support the Broadbeach markets.