Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Decades»Events
    Events Music - 1970s 2 Mins Read

    Sunbury Festival (1972)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    The Sunbury Music Festival – which took place from 28 – 30 January 1972 (the Australia Day long weekend) – was the turning point in Australian music.

    Thousands at the Victorian gig held on a 620-acre site about 30 miles north of Melbourne saw Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Chain, The La De Da’s and Tamam Shud perform, with (for the first time) no big-name international acts to bolster the bill and guarantee the crowds.

    Other bands in the 1972 lineup included: Max Merritt & the Meteors, Blackfeather, The Wild Cherries, Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, Spectrum, The Indelible Murtceps, Healing Force, Company Caine and Levi Smith’s Clefs.

    Fears – held by the police and promoters – that the event would turn into a giant alcohol and drug-taking picnic proved unfounded and the police officer in charge of the site (Superintendent R H Warne) had nothing but praise for the crowds who flocked to Sunbury.

    Though not the first major music festival in Australia, the Sunbury Music Festival was the first to turn a profit – it made a $90,000 net profit on an initial outlay of $70,000 – and to run consecutively for several years. For four years from 1972, the festival was held on the Australia Day long weekend at a private farm on the outskirts of Sunbury, attracting around 30,000 punters each year.

    While the Sunbury Music Festivals did much for the Aussie music scene, featuring an all-Australian line-up in 1972’s festival, it also attracted well-known acts from overseas in the later festivals with British bands Queen appearing in 1974 and Deep Purple taking the stage in the festival of 1975.

    Likened at the time to Woodstock, today Sunbury can be seen as a forerunner to big Aussie festivals like Big Day Out, Falls and Splendour in the Grass.

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Spectrum
      Spectrum
      Spectrum's #1 hit single I'll Be Gone (February 1971) was the final rock song to be played on the once-hip Melbourne radio station…
    • Tamam Shud
      Tamam Shud
      Tamam Shud began life as a Newcastle (Australia) instrumental band called The Four Strangers. The group released one well-regarded surf…
    • Band Of Light
      Band Of Light
      Band of Light was a blues-based group formed in October 1972 in Sydney (Australia) by Phil Key, with bassist Peter…
    • Jamie Redfern
      Jamie Redfern
      Over a three year period during the early 1970s, Australian child star Jamie Redfern scored four Top 40 hit singles…
    • Colleen Hewett
      Colleen Hewett
      Colleen Hewett was born on 16 April 1950 in Bendigo, Victoria (Australia). She began her music career at the age…
    • Buffalo
      Buffalo
      Sydney band Buffalo was one of Australia's pioneering heavy rock outfits, and by virtue of the band's appearance on the…
    • Madder Lake
      Madder Lake
      Melbourne (Australia) band Madder Lake are best remembered for their infectious single 12lb Toothbrush. Formed in 1970, their brand of prog…
    • Sharpies
      Sharpies
      The Sharpie movement was a short-lived youth subculture that seemed to explode out of nowhere, in Melbourne, Australia, in late…

    Australia
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleNude Vampire, The (1970)
    Next Article Life With Snarky Parker

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Smart Guy
      1 9 9 7 – 1 9 9 9 (USA) 51 x 30 minute episodes TJ […]
    • Weirdos, The
      One of the strongest bands to emerge from the Los Angeles punk […]
    • Three Men in a Boat (1956)
      Three London bachelors – Harris (Jimmy Edwards), J (David […]
    • Creeping Terror, The (1964)
      Written by the director of a 3-D softcore porno, directed by a […]
    • Feminist and the Fuzz, The (1971)
      This 1971 ABC TV-movie revolved around a feminist doctor […]
    • Chained Heat (1983)
      This lip-smackingly good women-in-prison saga finds […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.