Rain, thunderstorms and mud didn’t deter almost 7000 fans from attending the biggest music festival to be staged in Forbes on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
VANFEST has been declared a great success by organisers and despite having to stop the music for about 25 minutes when a thunderstorm hit early in the afternoon, the festival continued with a star-studded line-up of acts.
Forbes’ own Celia Pavey was among the performers, which included 3rd Base, OXBLVD, Van She, Savage (pictured above), AllDay, British India, Matt Corby, Chet Faker and Sneaky Sound System.
VANFEST was the brainchild of father and son Grant and Matt Clifton and they could not be happier with the success of the event.
“Everything went against us with the weather but we survived everything that was thrown at us,” Grant said.
“The fans were extremely well behaved and we were extremely impressed with how everyone embraced the conditions and weren’t deterred by the rain.
“We were concerned when the storm hit and we closed down the festival for 25 minutes until it passed for safety reasons but the rain cleared and the show went on.”
Matt said the energy at the festival was electric and the muddy conditions made for a more memorable event.
“As someone who grew up in Forbes and knew the limitations that living in the country had on experiencing quality entertainment, it was amazing for me to see how everyone embraced the event with so much spirit,” he said.
“I have to admit we were a little worried about the rain for a moment there but thankfully things cleared up and from that point it was full steam ahead.
“I’d reckon there would have been a nice little boost in sales of ponchos and umbrellas for the local businesses in town.”
Matt said the support from the local community was one of the factors that made the event such a success “The entire Forbes community really got behind the event from the council to local businesses and charities.
“We would like to say an absolutely massive thank you to the entire town and to everyone that helped out..
“We honestly can’t thank everyone enough as without them VANFEST would not have been the success it was.”
After the success of the inaugural event, VANFEST is expected to be back even bigger and better next year with the event already in the making.
“The calibre of acts on stage for 2015 will be of equivalence to what we had for this year’s event and we may even have a cheeky international ring in join us next year,” Matt said.
