The Australian Rock Collective are headlining the inaugural This is Just a Tribute festival. Photo: Supplied.
The Beatles, Queen, U2, INXS, Fleetwood Mac and much, much more. It’s the festival of dreams and it’s coming to Lake Jindabyne on the Easter Weekend (16-17 April).
No, this isn’t heaven, This is Just a Tribute. The newest Snowy Mountains festival, dedicated to bringing back all the hits of old you know and love, through tribute acts.
Organised by event management business Second Sunday, co-founder and general manager Dan Morgan said the idea for the event was to provide an awesome live music experience but with family-friendly times and vibes.
“On the back of COVID, we were looking at a way for people like myself and my friends that are getting a bit older and have got kids but used to love going to music festivals but it’s just not feasibly possible, to get out there and party like we used to and leave the kids behind,” Dan said.
“It’s also to really make sure you’ve maximised the music that you’ve heard, as some of the bands have been making music as your music taste evolved and you want to go back to the bangers that we all grew up with.”
Headlining the event is a band that boasts 33 ARIA Awards, 16 top-ten albums and four Australian musicians from some of our most celebrated bands, The Australian Rock Collective (ARC). The ARC features Mark Wilson of Jet, Darren Middleton of Powderfinger, Davey Lane of You Am I and Kram of Spiderbait. The band will be performing the hits of the Beatles for the event.
“Those guys (ARC) are so supportive of us as an inaugural festival and have really bought into the concept,” Dan said.
“We’re stoked to have such a calibre of artists headlining our festival from year one. Straight away it just validates that it’s a concept that the musicians are into.”
As for how the festival came to be at Lake Jindabyne, he said that coincidentally the business had already been in discussions with Destination NSW and Snowy Tourism when the idea sprung up. They agreed it was the perfect location to trial the event.
“We were just aware of the massive impact that originally the bushfires had had on the region and then obviously the COVID impact on a region that relies so heavily on tourism,” Dan said.
“All the planets aligned and we were able to program the festival so that our start time is early afternoon, so people can get up in the morning and do what they would have done with their families, whether it’s mountain biking or hiking or just taking in the natural beauty of the area.
“Then, you come along and enjoy five hours of incredible live music and you’re still out by dinner time to go back into town and enjoy the local restaurants and everything that will really give the local businesses a boost as well.”
Dan said the majority of ticket purchases so far have been for both days of the festival. It has affirmed his belief that the festival could become a consistent event on the calendar, as seen in other areas of regional NSW. The commitment from Destination NSW to support the event for three years is yet more proof.
The unique part of the festival is that guests can help pick the setlists of all the acts before they arrive. As far as organisers know, it’s the first time this has been done at a live music event in Australia.
“You’re kind of guaranteed to get the bangers because you can go on our website now and select from 25 tracks for each artist and be involved in making sure that there are no strange B-sides that you’re unaware of,” Dan said.
General admission tickets are currently $69 for one day or $129 for two days. Family tickets (for four) are $249 for one day or $359 for two days.
To purchase a ticket or help pick the setlist head to the This is Just a Tribute website.
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