Before the dust has settled on the weekend Granite Town festival, organisers are preparing to refill the coffers and start selling 1000 tickets to the next one.
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Hailing the event a success, Moruya’s Jazz, Food and Funk Festival president said it had blown his expectations away, but already wants the 2015 event to be bigger.
“The festival was a massive success, but I’m already thinking about what we can do better next year,” Stephen Matthews said.
“Matt from Thirsty Merc popped his head from under the tent on the Saturday night and said ‘this is amazing’.
“I think the music line-up was spot on and we have a good base to work on for next year.”
The rebadging of the much-loved and longstanding Moruya Jazz Festival was a risk, but headline acts Thirsty Merc, Katie Noonan, Mama Kin, Emma Pask, The Strides and True Vibenation drew a larger crowd, from many age groups.
Thousands of people thronged the waterfront on Friday night to see huge lanterns float down the Moruya River, in an auspicious beginning.
Mr Matthews said all weekend acts had asked to come back next year.
“Next year, we will probably start with less money than we started with this year,” he said.
“We need to pre-sell about 1,000 tickets in the next month and a half.”
Organisers said an estimated 1400 tickets were sold, either as weekend or day passes, with a final flurry on Friday.
Mr Matthews said he was overwhelmed by the Eurobodalla’s support and estimated 80 per cent of tickets were sold to residents.
“It was amazing, ticket sales doubled in the last 24 hours before the festival,” he said.
“The volunteers did a tremendous job.
“Everyone who had anything to do with the festival bent over backwards, whether a sponsor or the council.
“We pushed our limit and they were more than happy to help.”
The festival earned the approval of one who knows better than others what a tough gig it was
Former Moruya Jazz Festival coordinator Dianne Grigson joined more than 70 volunteers on the weekend.
“The new committee did a wonderful job,” she said.
“I think they will give the oyster festival a run for their money next year.”
Musical director Virginia “Ginny” Quirk got a personal kick out of seeing so many people enjoy her beautiful home town.
“We were happy to see Moruya going off,” she said.
“We are open to feedback from the community, but so far nothing major went wrong.
“Let’s see if we can keep the live music scene happening in Moruya.”
More pictures, pages 10 and 11.
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