Gympie Muster cancelled, turns focus to 40th anniversary
For almost four decades, the Gympie Music Muster has remained an annual fixture on the state’s concert calendar despite fires, droughts and flooding rains, but this year’s event will be cancelled for the first time in its history.
Aussie music legend John Williamson was booked to headline the Gympie Muster this year. (Photo: ABC)
This year’s four-day event was scheduled to be held at Amamoor State Forest from August 27-30 but despite further easing of social restrictions, Gympie Music Muster chairman Greg Cavanagh said organisers had decided moving forward with the 2020 event was “just not tenable or responsible”.
“This decision was made with a heavy heart, but following consultation with government and health officials, we know it is the right one and in the best interests of our artists, patrons, staff, contractors, volunteers and the community at large,” he said.
Program co-ordinator Emily Murphy said the decision to cancel this year’s muster was made after careful consideration and consultation with stakeholders and organisers had already shifted their energies and focus into planning the 2021 event, which will be the Gympie Music Muster’s 40th anniversary.
“It’s not the 11th hour, we’ve still got three months, so we’ve been in touch with everybody that we need to be in touch with around what we could possibly do if we did go ahead with reduced [crowd] numbers, if we could do fever testing at the gates, all of those things that every other festival and event is looking at doing now,” she told InQueensland.
“We’ve done all of our due diligence, and it’s very clear that we can’t safely – or responsibly – proceed and so that’s a decision we’ve made.
“It was a really tough decision and there’s been a lot of uncertainty and a lot of feelings of helplessness but this is the decision we had to make and we will now be able to spend more time working on 2021, and also on what kinds of things we can do to support our music community and our wider community in the next 12 months.”
Iconic Australian singer-songwriter John Williamson performed at the first Gympie Muster, which was staged at a cattle station 30km west of the city in 1982, and was one of the headline artists due to perform at Amamoor State Forest in August alongside the likes of Travis Collins and Beccy Cole.
In an interview with the ABC, he said while it was sad that the event would not go ahead, he was optimistic the cancellation would be good for the event in the long term.
“You feel sorry for the charity organisations and organisers,” Williamson said. “The Muster might come back bigger and stronger next year — maybe it’ll have a revival, and be just what it needs.”
Gympie Music Muster has always operated as a not-for-profit event and has raised more than $15 million for a variety of charities since its inception.
“Last year we were looking at our focus was on working around suicide prevention and having those conversations and that was with our national charity,” Murphy said. “We’ve worked on drought-relief campaigns and we’ve consistently been there, thinking about looking after and delivering to our communities.
She said she was confident the majority of acts that had signed on for the 2020 muster would perform at the 2021 event, and the extra time she had been afforded as a result of this year’s cancellation would make for an ever stronger lin-up for the event’s 40th anniversary.
“I don’t anticipate that there’ll be anyone that won’t want to commit to next year, unless they’ve got other things planned already, but at this point in time every artist, I would assume is going to be able to roll over into the next year and we’ll be able to have a lineup that’s what we were going to do this year but also with a few other special things that I now have the time to find.
“The vast majority of what we program is domestic, and that will continue because one of the key things we want to do is support local, original music in a live capacity and give artists the platform to be able to grow their audiences, share their art, and create a great atmosphere for them to perform in as well.”
Williamson said he was certain that when the Muster returned next year, people would be keen to tick it off their “bucket list”.
“You never know what’s around the corner with your health or whatever,” he said. “So grab the opportunity when it comes.”
Ticketholders have the option of retaining their tickets to use at next year’s event, or receiving a full refund.
-Additional reporting by ABC
