Festival Revives Club Fortunes

Five hours north-west of Sydney in the small community of Dunedoo, the local club is celebrating the 10^th anniversary of their Tunes On The Turf music festival on Saturday, 11 November.

The concept was devised by the Dunedoo Sports Club a decade ago as a strategy to turn around its fortunes.

“Initially, we came up with the idea as a means to keep the Club doors open,” says Dunedoo Sports Club Director Rob Whackett.

“When I came on the Club Board, we were heavily in the red. We’re not anymore, we’re hovering in a good spot, and it’s largely down to the festival’s success.”

Around 1500 people are expected to team through the Club doors throughout the second weekend in November to enjoy live outdoor performances of original Australian music, performed by bands who travel from across the country to take part.

And it’s not just the musicians travelling from far and wide, with interstate fans descending on the small town too.

“We will get roughly 500 visitors from out of town buying tickets for this festival, which is huge for Dunedoo considering our population is only about 800 people,” says Rob.

“It’s not just great for our Club, it has a really positive economic impact on the local community — there would have to be a boost of hundreds of thousands of dollars into the town.”

Friday, 10 November will see a free live music jam on the Club’s veranda and on the Saturday morning there will be local “Made ’n Grown” markets to browse. Don’t miss the recently painted silos featuring local jockey Hugh Bowman and WINX, then enjoy a gelato, coffee, cheese platter or picnic hamper before heading to the Club for 10 hours of non-stop music from 2pm.

The event will have a free camping area available for ticket holders, and tickets to Tunes On The Turf are available at the gate and online.

While some locals were sceptical at first, a decade on and it’s not hard to see why Tunes On The Turf is now fully embraced by the community.

“Early on we weren’t getting support from local businesses, but now the townspeople and businesses talk about it and mark it in their calendars because they see all the people come in and give the town such a boost,” says Rob.

It’s also been a boon for the Australian music industry, with bands now knocking down the door trying to get a start — a far cry from the early days.

“Initially it was a struggle, I would take myself off to Tamworth and walk the streets with business cards trying to find people who were looking for starts and prepared to travel,” says Rob, who could double as a judge on the hit TV show The Voice.

“That’s how I ended up getting Brad Cox in the early days — and look at him now, he’s had chart-topping albums!

“Now my inbox is chock-a-block leading up to the festival with people sending in applications and video footage of bands, it’s a job in itself to sort through all of them to make sure I’m not overlooking any future legends.”

Importantly, it’s a small community club success story that Rob believes other clubs can certainly emulate if they’re willing to play the long game.

“My advice to other clubs would be to have a crack, because while it’s taken a few years to properly grow, for our small little club it’s kept the doors open.”