Dust off your cowboy boots Gold Coast because three days of boot scootin’ fun is kicking off in Broadbeach.
Some of the best country artists in the industry have arrived for Groundwater Country Music Festival, held from 17-19 October.
The free festival includes international acts like Shane Smith & The Saints, Nikki Lane, and Jackson Dean as well as homegrown talent like Casey Barnes, Troy Cassar-Daley, The Wolfe Brothers, and Amy Shepherd.
Festival Director Mark Duckworth has told Hot Tomato the event continues to grow each year.
“It’s sort of happened parallel to country music itself growing and crossing over into popular music as well, you know artists like Beyoncé, Luke Combes and Post Malone all doing records and tapping into country music,” Mr Duckworth says.
“So more people know country music now than ever before, and Groundwater has been very lucky to grow alongside that.
“Everyone is welcome, come on down, jump on the G:Link; it’ll drop you right off in the precinct,
“Come and watch those main acts that you know, but also look around the festival a little deeper and you might find something that you’ve never heard before that you really really enjoy.”
Last year’s event attracted more than 55,000 people across the three days and it injected over $13 million into the local economy.
Aussie artist Casey Barnes has told Hot Tomato he always loves playing at Groundwater.
“It’s one of my favourite festivals to play, and the fact it’s here on the Gold Coast makes it so much better, you know, you get a homegrown crowd,” Barnes says.
“Even where the main stage is on Surf Parade, for me, it holds so many memories, not just from playing at the fesitval, but it’s the same place I met my wife when I was doing little gigs 20+ years ago.”
Image: Supplied
The event also holds a special place for Australian not-for profit charity Farm Angels, who will be back for their sixth year as charity partner with Groundwater.
Farm Angels has been involved with the festival since 2019 to help raise critical funds and awareness to support Aussie farmers.
Head of Fundraising Chris Jordan has told Hot Tomato it’s their biggest fundraising event on their calendar.
“The Gold Coast community has been very supportive of Farm Angels; they come in droves, they purchase merchandise, and they put their hard-earned cash into our fundraising team. It really assists the work that we’re able to do,” Mr Jordan says.
“So it’s massive for us as an organisation; not only in the funds that we raise but also in the awareness that we create to folks coming in from the coast or metropolitan regions to truly understand the hardships that farmers go through.”
Groundwater Country Music Festival kicks off at 10.30am Friday 17 October under the Kurrawa Big Top.
For the full lineup and program details click here.
