Music festival timing is out

Cooly gig set for peak holiday start

ACCOMMODATION concerns regarding the planned SandTunes beach concert at Coolangatta have failed to deter promoters from going ahead with the events at the end of the year.

The beach concerts, expected to attract 35,000 per day on November 30 and December 1, come at the start of the peak holiday period on the Coast. It also includes the second week of Schoolies for NSW.

At a business breakfast organised by the Greater Southern Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce, promoter TEG Dainty representatives were asked about the event’s timing and what benefits it would bring to Coolangatta.

TEG Dainty communications spokesman Dan Barr said the festival was timed to cater for big name overseas artists who would be available out of the Northern Hemisphere touring season.

Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey questioned the benefit the event would bring to Coolangatta, given that many of the accommodation houses had already taken bookings for the summer holidays.

She also asked about the noise footprint of the event and raised the point that while the focus of promoters and TEQ had been on bringing visitors to the city and Coolangatta, there had been little consultation with local residents about the impact it would have on them.

Mr Barr said the event, which was being supported by Tourism and Events Queensland, was designed not just to bring people to Coolangatta but to the Gold Coast region and the promoters had been assured that the Coast had the capacity to accommodate the expected festival influx.

“This festival is designed to bring people here to stay for several days, not the drive market and TEQ has indicated that they expected about a third of those coming would be from out of state or overseas,” he said.

While acknowledging that many festival-goers might not stay directly in Coolangatta, he said the town would benefit from them coming to the precinct and frequenting local businesses prior to and after the music sessions which would run from noon to 9pm each day.

Local Councillor Gail O’Neill, who has opposed the timing of the festival, also questioned how SandTunes would deliver significant benefits to Coolangatta given the impact of setting up and bumpout of the precinct would take.

TEG Dainty site operations manger Darren Bell said the construction phases had been reduced to 12 days to set up and a week to pack up and restore the site.

“All noise management has to comply with standards set by the Gold Coast City Council and we will be working to address those issues,” he said.