Port Kembla Festival was an overwhelming success but also over capacity. New funding will allow the event and others in the region to expand audiences. Photo: Supplied/Port Kembla Festival.
A popular festival that turned to post-event fundraising to survive is among those receiving a share in almost $400,000 being injected into the Illawarra live music scene to increase the sustainability and longevity of the industry.
The Port Kembla Festival has been boosted by more than $35,000 to grow audiences and increase opportunities in future years. It’s hoped the funding will also solve issues experienced at the last event.
“The grant is quite specific; the funding will provide outside stages and activations in new spaces so it’s targeted at providing growth which means we can attract new audiences to the event,” Port Kembla Festival director Harrison Hall said.
“At the moment the event is obviously totally at capacity and one of the problems we had this year was basically overflowing venues and lines all day.
“So while it was a very successful event, audience experience was impacted by not enough space.”
Although the funding will address some concerns, effectively financing the event continues to be a challenge.
“The good news is the funding will allow us to expand the event into new areas, so you’ll see new spaces pop up.
“However it doesn’t cover the core venues for Port Kembla Festival.
“So the event that people have come to know and love over the past five years, those spaces – The Servo, The Iron Yampi, The Vault, Shave Cave – we’ll still need to find funding to get those to go ahead.”
The festival proposed that attendees ‘pay-as-they-feel’ after the most recent event, which raised more than $4300 to cover costs.
Harrison said next year they would likely introduce the pay-as-you-feel model prior to the event, when people are making reservations, in a bid to avoid a ticketing system which would cost people more money.
“It reduces barriers to entry as well; everyone’s in a different financial situation; people might be a bit tight for money than they would be normally so it’s a part of the event that I would really like to preserve,” Harrison said.
The funding aims to drive viability and growth in the live music scene with a particular focus on all-ages events, with the six of the 28 recipients in the Illawarra region.
Thirroul Music Festival received a $25,000 grant, with $40,000 awarded to a series of all-ages micro-festivals in Bulli called the Nightjar Collective.
The Gong Crawl in Wollongong was boosted by $94,337 and a monthly all-ages music series at La La La’s by Night Eats Day received $100,000.
Further south, in addition to the $35,872 awarded to Port Kembla Festival, an all-ages music event in Kiama, SKATE X SOUND, received $99,127.
“We’ve supported the larger music festivals through our viability fund. This package is about building the smaller local and up-and-coming festivals. These events provide great entertainment for locals and have the potential to become the blockbuster events of the future,” NSW Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy John Graham said.
“This funding is helping bring back the great tradition of all-ages shows. These formative live music experiences help build the audiences of the future.
“The way the live music industry reaches audiences online is also changing rapidly. That’s why we’re investing in local platforms that help build audiences through digital platforms and storytelling.”
As well as providing more opportunities for the Illawarra community to access these types of events, the funding also aims to support artists, venues and the entire chain beyond 2025/26.
“Our Local Audience Development Grants are supporting a broad range of organisations and events to help artists connect with communities and ensure music businesses and industry professionals can continue presenting and supporting accessible grassroots live music,” NSW Head of Sound Emily Collins said.
“It can be challenging for audiences and artists to find places to enjoy and play live music and these grants will provide vital support to the industry to change that. We look forward to seeing these events, projects and campaigns come to life across NSW.”
