Just over 2500 punters donned their festival best and braved the cold weather for the final leg of the Next Exit music festival at the Mudgee Showground on Saturday.
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The all-Australian lineup brought major and emerging acts Ocean Alley, Spacey Jane, Dear Seattle, merci, mercy and Clews to Mudgee for the festival.
Head Of Touring at MJR Presents Scott Mesiti, who headed up the tour, said Mudgee was a great place to end the five-town tour.
"We covered many kilometers across the five events. So we did about 3500 kilometers to cover all the shows to finish in Mudgee. It was kind of sad to see the last show close. We had a great time. And it was really well supported from both communities and the fans that attended," he said.
"The [feedback] has been so positive... we've been tagged in so many posts across social media. People were on a high from it and after a day in the car yesterday, we're still on the come down. It was just fantastic."
When Ocean Alley was wrapping up their Mudgee gig they promised they would return one day. So that begs the question, will Next Exit return to Mudgee in the future?
Scott wouldn't confirm either way except to say Next Exit's spirit is regional towns and acknowledged that the festival was a rare chance for fans to avoid travel to see a gig of this calibre.
"Our intention is to build the event year on year. Mudgee is a fantastic region and has great tourism opportunities," he said.
The whole basis around the event was to take it into regional areas, just for exactly that reason. So people didn't have to travel hours on a train to get to a show.
"We brought the show to them."
Scott said across the five events - which went to Tamworth, Gosford, Bateman's Bay and Port Macquarie before Mudgee - they generated an estimated $1.5 million back into the events and entertainment industry.
"That's something we are really proud of," Scott said.
