ONE councillor has labelled a recent festival at Mount Panorama the “Inland Sea of Frowns” after being unimpressed by what was otherwise touted as a great event.
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Inland Sea of Sound was held over two days, featuring numerous acts and cultural elements.
Councillor Alex Christian said he didn't understand why the festival was hailed a massive success, given that numbers were down.
“I attended on Friday evening and again Saturday after lunch and again Saturday evening during the main event and what I saw really shocked me,”he said.
“It appeared to me there were about 150 people in attendance on Friday evening, 10 people around lunch time on Saturday and about 500 on Saturday night during the main event. I believe only around 1500 tickets were sold.”
He said that the festival cost around $200,000, but it didn't appear that the return was worth the investment.
“If this is deemed a huge success by organisers, then I’d suggest the bar for success is set way too low," Cr Christian said.
“I must stress I do not hold council staff responsible; the layout was great, the lineup sensational, the promotion of the event was fantastic, the people in attendance enjoyed it, but maybe the demand just isn’t there.”
Although unimpressed, Cr Christian said Bathurst Regional Council should back the event again next year.
"But if the numbers don't improve, I'll make moves to withdraw council's support for the festival," he said. "It simply won't be feasible to continue this event into the future."
Cr Christian may not have much faith left in the event, but one of the organisers, Stephen Champion, still does.
He said that this year the deliberate choice was made to drop the number of headline acts and instead shift the focus to providing a quality festival experience.
More emphasis was put on visual installations, local food and involving Bathurst's Wiradyuri community.
Mr Champion said he was confident that crowd numbers would grow, particularly as this year media from Sydney had attended and would likely promote Inland Sea of Sound to a wider audience.
"It might take a year or two for people to realise it is not just about the headliners, it's about the whole festival experience," he said.
The 2018 Inland Sea of Sound was the eighth running of the festival, which had got its start as small concerts in private backyards before evolving into a massive celebration.
