“Choirboys is exactly the kind of band that I always wanted to be in as a kid, so why not keep on doing it till you die?” says Mark Gable (centre), founding member of Choirboys who this week were announced as the headline act for Tumbafest 2024. Image: The Harbour Agency.
If you’ve never run to paradise, you can run to Tumbarumba next February to experience it.
Just this week organisers announced Australian hard rock band Choirboys would headline the town’s biggest annual festival, the NSW Tourism award-winning Tumbafest on Saturday and Sunday, 24 and 25 February 2024.
Legendary for their hit song, one of Australia’s unofficial anthems – Run to Paradise – the Choirboys have been performing for four decades and are as entrenched in Aussie music culture as Cold Chisel, Hunters & Collectors, Divinyls and Australian Crawl.
First forming as a hard rock pub band in the northern beaches of Sydney in 1979, Choirboys have lived the true rock n roll dream.
By 1983 they’d signed their first recording deal with Australia’s longest established independent record label, Alberts, alongside stablemates AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo and a bunch of other 70s stalwarts.
Since then they’ve released three top 30 albums and have charted in overseas territories including New Zealand and the US with a swag of timeless hits including Never Gonna Die, Big Bad Noise, Gasoline and, of course, Boys Will be Boys.
Even during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 that confined people to their homes, and forced the hand of musicians like Choirboys to adapt, they ventured from loud, sweat driven and gritty pubs to live-streaming a set of Easy Beats and Choirboys classics to the lounge rooms of their fans.
This gave birth to their new live nine-track compilation album of hits recorded from that streaming event titled “Feels Good”, released in October 2021 as a strictly limited-edition vinyl release.
Sweetening that release was Choirboys’ first brand new original single release in nearly 15 years, titled Home Free.
In June 2023 they quietly released another single Give me all that Lovin’ That You’ve Got – a past recording founding member Mark Gable discovered in the vault and decided to upload to Spotify.
With Choirboys it’s not just the music, it’s the atmosphere and the humorous banter they bring to the stage; they have quite the reputation for being an incredible live act.
They continue to be a constant on the East Coast touring and festival circuits.
Mark says they keep doing it because they, “bloody love it”.
“Choirboys is exactly the kind of band that I always wanted to be in as a kid, so why not keep on doing it till you die?” he said.
Tumbafest is one of the state’s most popular music, wine and food festivals and is held in parkland near the centre of the mountain town of Tumbarumba. Image: Tumbafest.
The increasingly popular two-day Tumbafest is held along the town’s parkland creekscape tucked behind Tumbarumba’s main street.
Here a main stage is located at the heart of the festival, under enormous trees that line the town’s meandering watercourse; there’s no better place to spend a late summer weekend.
The Tumbarumba region has built a reputation as one of the best cool climate regions in the country and this is its showcase event – offering the best the region has to offer in food and wine against a backdrop of thumping great musicians and markets.
There’s a wine courtyard where you can meet the district’s proud and passionate local growers and winemakers, sample their wines and learn what makes them so good.
Discover a wonderful variety of whites including sparkling, pinot gris, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay. For lovers of a good red, pinot noir, tempranillo and merlot are waiting for you too.
Enjoy a leisurely stroll among the wonderfully shaded stalls of the markets, ideally located not too far from the main stage so that you never miss a minute of the entertainment.
With stall items ranging from fresh local produce and handmade jewellery to specialised clothing and artwork, the markets will keep you mesmerised for hours.
The kids corner is free for children under 12; activities range from face painting and dress-ups to puppet shows, colouring in and lawn games. There’s even a sandpit for hours of fun!
When you’re feeling a little hungry, take a short stroll over the footbridge to find the Tumbafest food stalls where tastebuds can be tantalised with the wide range of food stalls available, including a variety of cuisines ranging from pizza and paella to Thai and Turkish!
But you’d better be quick, because tickets for the popular two-day event went on sale this week, with limited early release stocks selling out immediately.
Early bird tickets are on sale.
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