An event promoter has questioned the council’s decision to fund the Caloundra Music Festival over the October long weekend saying it adds nothing to an already busy tourism calendar.
Bob Carroll, managing director of Australian Events, said the $1 million spent by council on the music festival over four years was wasted as the start of summer is a busy tourism period anyway.
“Council continue to want to hold it on a long weekend at the start of summer, when the place would be booked solid and busy anyway,” he told the Sunshine Coast News.
“They pour hundreds of thousands of dollars of ratepayers’ money into an event that should be moved to an off-peak period and done somewhere else, so that’s the sort of oddity that you see here on the Sunshine Coast.
“If they want to be in the festival business … then at least hold it in off peak and hold it at a venue that is better suited to hold such an event.”
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said the festival has delivered “significant economic, social and cultural benefits” to the community for more than a decade.
“The event’s success is not determined solely by economics,” the spokesperson told the Sunshine Coast News.
“Timing of the festival coincides with the end of the school holidays and Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
“Event survey results indicate 94 percent agree that the festival adds to the appeal of the Sunshine Coast and local residents should feel proud of it.
“Hosting the event injects more than $3 million into the Sunshine Coast economy, through direct and incremental expenditure.”
