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Music fans get ready.
Mudgee will host five massive musical acts as part of the 'Next Exit Festival' in May with Australian alternative rock legends Ocean Alley headlining.
Next Exit, the latest addition to the Australian festival circuit, has officially unveiled the line-up for its inaugural event today, jam packed with local Aussie talent that will tour around the state, finishing with the Mudgee show.
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Rounding out the lineup is, Spacey Jane, which recently became the highest-ranking Australian artist of the Hottest 100, Northern Beaches four-piece Dear Seattle, NSW local Merci, Mercy and sister duo CLEWS.
The festival will be held at the Mudgee Showground on Saturday, May 29 with tickets to go on sale next week. Keep an eye on the Mudgee Guardian for more info on that.
Australian music festivals have been dropping like flies over the past few months; events like Splendour In The Grass to Tamworth Country Music Festival have been put on hold until at least 2022. This makes Mudgee's gig one of the only festivals going ahead anywhere in the state, and definitely the most convenient for locals hoping to see a show.
The organisers of Next Exit say the festival will place an emphasis on engaging local businesses to take part in the event, with a goal of driving economic activity, encourage regional tourism and highlight the best our regions have to offer.
"When we put this concept together, it was based around going into bushfire-affected areas and trying to reignite some regional territories, Mudgee is one of five shows that we're going to end up doing this year," MJR Presents' Head Of Touring Australia, Scott Mesiti said.
"So once COVID hit it's now more about making the shows happen, approximately 250 people being employed at each show. From promoters, crew, all the way down to site management, bar staff etc. So now it's just about making the shows happen for the industry itself.
"We started working through it about 18 months ago... we wanted to develop a concept that was already out there, there are already a few touring festivals that suit older demographics and we wanted to come in at a younger angle and have something for the younger demographic to come to and therefore create some longevity for the brand of Next Exit."
Scott said the focus right now is getting the shows produced and held successfully, but wouldn't rule out a continuation of the Next Exit Festival in years to come. He also praised Council for their support in organising the festival.
"They've been really supportive, they worked with us through some small teething and logistical issues, mainly around COVID-based things. We all know we need to be careful to deliver such an event. They gave us a letter of recommendation when we were going for funding, so yeah, super supportive.
"As a result of the [government] funding we've also been able to come in at a reasonable ticket price for the event. Which is the whole premise around applying for the funding. So year one gives this event a good chance of success and is around for many years to come."
Scott said the event will start out at a capacity of 3000. It's unsure if that includes crew or just attendees.
"We will start out at 3000 capacity, that will allow us to deliver the vent in current COVID restrictions. If things should ease or change along the way we're flexible enough to adapt. But we will be starting out at 3000," he said.
Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, March 9 at 10:00am via mjrpresents.com
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