New Cooly music fest put on hold

SANDTUNES on Coolangatta Beach was originally earmarked as a two-day music festival in December.

It was then scaled back to one day this year – now it is none.

The Gold Coast City Council had given initial approval for TEG Dainty, US partner AEG and local partner Cross Promotions to stage SandTunes on December 1-2.

Division 14 councillor Gail O’Neill said the promoters had informed council they would not go ahead with the concert this year but were looking to stage it as a two-day event in December next year.

“I was not in favour of the concert going ahead as a twoday event in the first place and still had reservations about it as a one-day concert, mainly because of the time of year promoters wanted,” Cr O’Neill said.

“December is a busy time for accommodation houses and the SandTunes would simply add pressure on that market.”

Ms O’Neill said she would prefer that organisers looked at a quieter time of the year, such as September.

Southern Greater Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce vice-president and Coolangatta business owner Jo-Ann Smith said the decision would give the local community breathing space to plan for the 2019 event.

“Having time on our side, the business community can at least create a checklist to examine various impacts a two-day beach concert would have locally,” she said.

“We would also like to engage with the promoters in a consultative process to address concerns and look at options which would be mutually beneficial.”