Thousands of concert goers rocked away the day and night at Sunbury ’24 on Saturday 13 April, and there’s already talk of another major event for the town in 2026 based on Hume City council’s Harvest Festival format – last seen in 2022.
Sunbury ’24, held at The Nook (as was the last Harvest Festival) was simulcast by Sunbury Radio, volunteer presenters spent the day interviewing performers, festival fans, and broadcasting most of the show.
During an interview with the station’s Andrew Smith, Jacksons Creek councillor Jarrod Bell said the Sunbury Pop festival, with its nod to the iconic rock festivals of the 1970s, had been a long time coming.
“My colleague councillor (Jack) Medcraft has been for years and years trying to get this [festival] on the agenda,” Cllr Bell told Mr Smith. “The council is incredibly proud to invest in events, not only here in Sunbury, but across the city.”
Cllr Bell told radio listeners the Sunbury ’24 festival gave the town something special to celebrate.
See our Sunbury ’24 photo special here.
“We’ve thrown the support and funding at it to make something that’s worthwhile, and worth remembering, and something that everyone can enjoy,” he said.
“I am happy to share that this is going to be part of a regular programme of events and we will see an event of this size and scale returning to Sunbury every second year.”
Cllr Bell says next time around he would expect to see a return to the Harvest Festival format, “…which has a mix of classic and contemporary performers to appeal to a broader range people”.
During his on-air chat, Cllr Bell described Sunbury as the cultural and arts home of Hume.
“There’s no doubt about it,” he said. “It is the home of our community radio station, of our arts communities – Jacksons Hill is really the beating heart of that.”
Of the 4,000 tickets sold for Sunbury ’24, 28% went to people outside Hume City, with some snapped up by festival goers in places such as Bangkok, Los Angeles, and Colombo. Of the remainder, 72% were bought by people within Hume – and 69% (2,760) were in Sunbury.
