BARHAM’S Riverside Park was alive with energy on March 1 as the River Daze music festival marked another successful year.
Event co-ordinator Faye Ashwin said the eighth edition of the beloved local festival exceeded expectations in nearly every way.
“It was extremely successful on all accounts,” she said.
“We had great patronage, and we sold out a month before the event was due to happen.
“We’re at, what we believe, is the maximum crowd capacity we can manage at Riverside Park.
“The atmosphere was perfect, and we had a full house.”
The festival offered five top-tier performers, eight food vendors, and local homebrewers for just $65 per ticket.
Headline band was Australian hard rock band Baby Animals with supporting acts including The Voice contestant Elias Lanyon, Reputation Show – The Ultimate Taylor Swift Show, Louie Lee Feltrin The Robbie Williams Experience and Reece Mastin Band.
The more than 1800 people included families and music enthusiasts of all ages.
Attendees in their 50s and beyond enjoyed classic tunes.
Ms Ashwin pointed out that while they are thrilled with the numbers, the current crowd size feels like the optimal balance for the park’s space.
“We love the friendliness and comfortability of the park, adding more people would just make it too crowded,” she said.
The event was designed with families in mind, offering a variety of activities to entertain the younger crowd.
Children were treated to magicians, jugglers, face painters, and even a children’s songwriter performing live. All activities were free of charge once festival-goers entered the grounds.
“We really wanted to ensure that kids had a good time too,” Ms Ashwin said.
“It was important to us to invest in activities for the little ones, and the feedback we got was fantastic. The kids had an amazing time.”
Despite some challenges, including minor sound issues with one of the final performances, Ms Ashwin said the event ran smoothly overall.
The organisation of the event, from the bar system to the toilet facilities, showed notable improvements from previous years, said Ms Ashwin.
Volunteers manned various stations, including the bar and the front gate, with high school students even helping to raise money for the event by selling raffle tickets for a guitar signed by the performers. This year, they raised $3000 for the cause.
“The volunteers are crucial,” Ms Ashwin said.
“We’ve got a great group from our community, from young high school students to the people running the bar.
“It’s amazing to see everyone come together and pitch in.”
One of the most memorable moments of the event occurred on Saturday evening, when the sunset over the Murray River provided a stunning backdrop for the festival’s closing performances.
“We had this beautiful red sunset behind the bridge while people were sitting on the boardwalk, sipping cocktails, listening to live bands – it doesn’t get better than that,” she said.
“We’re celebrating where we live, how we live, and the people we live with,” Ms Ashwin said.
“From the local orange juice to our locally sourced ingredients in the cocktails, it’s about showcasing the best of the region.”
Looking ahead to next year, Ms Ashwin and the team are already beginning to plan. While they’re focused on closing out this year’s event, she mentioned that they typically begin scouting performers by mid-year, and tickets will likely go on sale in November.
“We’ve really worked hard on our social media this year, and it’s paid off,” Ms Ashwin said.
“We rebranded the event and did a great job of engaging people online. It’s been fantastic to see how the event has evolved in that space.
“We’ve got it down pat now, but we’ll always keep learning and improving. We want to give the crowd the best experience possible every time.”
