The Bellingen River Festival ceased due to lack of funding. The Macleay River Festival isn't quite dead but ran out of enthusiastic council staff this year. Toast of Urunga choked on its own success.
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The Yarrahapinni Festival only runs in even-numbered years. Tastings on the Hastings went ahead and was successful, but it’s a long trip south after that before you'll find another viable festival nestled by a river.
However, other nearby food-themed festivals are alive and kicking. The Sawtell Chilli Festival was bigger than ever this year, likewise the Woolgoolga Curryfest.
The Nambucca River Festival has one major advantage over most river festivals in its immediate vicinity. It is still running. But last weekend at Macksville, the weather and a $10 entry price conspired to almost kill the festival. Almost.
Early crowd numbers were disappointing and every stallholder approached told the same story. They would rather see the entry price lowered, or dropped altogether, and make up the loss with higher stall fees. They want huge crowds. Their business model is based on volume sales.
There was excellent entertainment on offer all day, with multiple rides for the kids and music on two stages, although the performers often felt as though they were at a rehearsal with only a few friends and family to cheer them on.
By late afternoon, the rain showers had gone and the crowd began to grow, albeit slowly. When the time came for crazy water ski antics, enough people had gathered to make it all seem worthwhile and stallholders began to smile and sell their wares.
Just before dusk, Kai Tipping and his army of drummers and dancers began to make a lot of noise and the crowd swelled yet again. Kai is a master of infectious beats and his dancing friends are masters of hypnotic movement.
They totally beguiled and entranced the crowd, then led them Pied Piper style down to the newly constructed river stage, where country music outfit Stars & Stripes were ready and waiting to perform.
Next on the agenda was the flotilla of gigantic lanterns, which have become a hallmark of the Nambucca River Festival. The crowd had grown organically as darkness fell and there were plenty of ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’ as the ghostly-lit lanterns floated silently past the river stage.
Another event not-to-be-missed was the fireworks display, a very rare sight outside capital cities these days, and no doubt part of the reason for the steep entry-price. Lighting the blue touch paper on pretty explosives is expensive, and there were plenty of them being lit at this festival.
After the fireworks, pseudo-local band Pirra took to the stage. Two of the band’s members, back-line rhythm twins Curtis and Jeffrey, hail from Bowraville, while guitarist James is a Taree ex-pat. Lead singer Jess was made an honorary member of the Mid North Coast for the duration of the performance and the locals loved them, staying until 10pm despite the return of the rain.
By the end of the night most of the stallholders had packed up happy and the crowd was obviously overjoyed so it’s a fair bet that, volunteers willing and red-tape notwithstanding, this festival will continue.
In 2015, Nambucca pulled off a Steve Bradbury-style win. We hope a few other river dwellers can revive their events and provide some competition for next year's festival season.
- Ian Yates