Could farmers throw a lifeline to the struggling music event scene in Australia?

When Tim Molloy and Rose Brady bought a strawberry farm, they weren’t expecting hosting a music festival to be on their jobs list.

But just months after getting the keys to the property, they found themselves agreeing to become the future organisers of the North Queensland Wintermoon festival.

The festival is hosted on a property in the picturesque Cameron’s Pocket, a popular camping and swimming spot near Mackay, and has consistently drawn acts from all over Australia in its 30-year history.

The organisers are stepping away, and the strawberry farmers next door are carrying on its legacy.

Although Ms Brady and Mr Molloy have never organised a festival before, they are desperate to preserve the long-standing local event.

“It just feels right to continue to provide that for the generations to come,” Ms Brady said.

The festival has two events a year: Wintermoon, which runs on the first weekend of May, and Wintermoon Springfest, which runs in September.

The first event Mr Molloy and Ms Brady will host is the September festival in 2025, which they are rebranding to Strawberry Fest.

“The strawberries are definitely a big crowd drawer, so we thought, why not?” Mr Molloy said.

They will also work up to running the May festival in the next few years.

Farmers are known for their hard work, but it is their love of music and their communities, that is making some open their farms across the state to festival goers.

Passion for live music

In the small central Queensland town of Biloela, local herb and cattle farmers Paul and Kim Stringer are also known for their festival side hustle.

Named Winterfest, the couple have been running it on their property since 2011.

It started as a jam session for musos before snowballing into a full-blown music festival, and this year, they had their first sellout crowd of up to 600 people.

“We’ve grown the calibre of music over the years,” Mr Stringer said.

“You start to get a bit of a following and those people are keen to come back.”

Mr Stringer said he chalked their success to more people looking for festivals that offered an “experience” and agreed with Mr Molloy that farms could offer this.

He said 85 per cent of their ticket sales were to people from outside the town.

“I think people enjoy getting out of the city and coming and staying on the farm for the weekend,” Mr Stringer said.

“People make the pilgrimage up. I think we’re about seven hours from Brisbane.”

He said their main income was still from their farm, so the future of the festival didn’t hinge on its financial success.

“Passion for live music is what’s driven it for us,” he said.

“It’s the drive to try and keep that live music scene happening.”

‘Rising out of the soil’

Creative Australia, the Australian government’s principal arts investment and advisory body, analysed festivals held between July 2022 and June 2023. 

They found only 56 per cent were profitable.

With a number of major music events being cancelled this year, including Splendour in the Grass and next year’s Big Red Bash, those in the music industry say it is important to find a way to keep regional events alive.

Queensland country singer Brad Butcher said boutique festivals could be key to preserving the future of the live music industry.

Mr Butcher said a few he had seen were run by farmers.

“You’re seeing more festivals rising out of the soil,” he said.

“I think it’s by convenience because these farmers have some space.”

Mr Butcher said these events were helping to grow the next generation of Australian musicians.

“They give local performers a place to perform in front of people and just get used to being in front of people behind a microphone,” he said.

“It’s that opportunity that they bring and that they offer everyone that’s really important.”