Outdoor Festival Boom

They are a growing and popular phenomenon around Australia, particularly in winter months. One outdoor festival which was literally on fire was Taste Sorrento in Melbourne. David Spicer spoke to the chamber of commerce that commissioned it and Outlook Communications which ran it.

Whether it is the VIVID drone show in Sydney, which attracted crowds so large that it left the city with pedestrian gridlock, or regional and suburban centres, free mid-winter festivals are taking off.

For traders on the Mornington Peninsula, winter is ‘brutally’ dead, and never more so as the freezing chills sink in during June when daylight hours are shortest. So last year the local chamber of commerce revived Taste Sorento, a celebration of local produce, services and experiences.

“Taste Sorrento is banner. It’s not just food and beverage, but the gallery had events, there were movies, MasterChef at the RSL and the launch of new retail products,” said Sorento Chamber of Commerce President Krysten Le-Marshall.

The main attraction was a Winter Solstice Fire Night on the foreshore, under the full moon, which combined fire, street stalls and live music.

Jack Jones from Outlook Communications said, “The pinnacle of the evening was the lighting of a six-meter Burning effigy, symbolizing the transition from the longest night of the year to the promise of summer's return.

“The effigy, created by Sculptor/Fabricator Derek John from djprojects and ‘& Gallery Australia’ featured a steel structure with timber slats for burning. The design means Burnie will make a return every year with a new timber suit ready to burn.”

The chamber of commerce was delighted by the turnout and the thirty-minute highlight of the effigy, that ‘burned perfectly’.

“There were lots of fires on the foreshore and performances leading to the ignition. We had 3 to 4,000 people attend. The whole town came to life,” said Le-Marshall.

“Every vendor sold out. When the beer ran dry, the pub offered (replacement) slabs.”

The Chamber of Commerce is now planning to make it a weekend celebration next year and has its eyes on a Christmas event.

For Outlook Communications, setting up the event was a major undertaking requiring a bump-in on one day, 150 hours of labour and no environmental impact.

The company filled two x 3 tonne trucks with sound and light gear, two generators, a six metre by four metre trailer stage, and it worked with Blaso Pyrotechnics to supply 12 fire cannons. 

 “As it is outside and was just a massive site with limited security and masses of people, it was very hard to keep track of equipment. All our lighting equipment was from Beamz Pro and was up-rated just in case we had a few showers throughout the day,” said Jones.  

“The remote lighting away from the stage was all battery operated so we did not have to create any safety risks by running power cords everywhere.”

With big, ticketed music festivals on the decline, the free community events are becoming an alternative source of work for the industry.

“We look forward to our continuing relationship with the Chamber of Commerce into the future.”

Images: Taste of Sorrento Festival. Photographer: Nic Roberts.

https://www.outlookcomms.com.au/