The inaugural Point Nepean music festival outside Melbourne on the weekend was an outstanding success for music fans, locals and organizers alike.
The two day festival was headlined by Ben Harper on Saturday and John Mayer on Sunday along with a solid line-up including Tony Joe White, Missy Higgins, Taj Mahal, The Waifs, Iain Archer, Bela Fleck, Mick Thomas, Mahalia Barnes, The Sparrows and Terrance Simien.The sunny days not only attracted the ticket buyers, but also "the wankers" as promoter Michael Chugg called the people moored off the site on their boats.
The two stage set-up insured that fans were spread out across the day and in keeping with the older demographic, attracted by the likes of Mayer and Harper, the catering was also premium gourmet.
Around 7500 people attended the festival on Sunday. It sold out earlier on the previous day. Saturday was at near capacity crowd.
The organizers also went to great lengths to protect locals from the increased traffic, especially over the long weekend. Detours were set up around the towns on Sorrento and Portsea to help the flow of traffic for the concert goers and lessen the impact through the towns.
The historic location of Point Nepean is certainly an ideal place for music events. It was set at the old Point Nepean Quarantine Station. The station was established in 1852 and was the point of arrival for new immigrants to Australia in the late 19th and early 20th century.
In 1951, it was leased to the Army to establish an Officer Cadet School. However, since 1957, it has been rarely used.
With the success of the Point Nepean Music Festival, it is hoped that Australia's old quarantine site may be the country's newest music venue. Based on the numbers from the weekend, that would already be in discussion.
