Airlie Turns Out for Live Music

Mayor Ry Collins, Melanie Collins, Margie Murphy and Gavin Butlin. Photo credit: Summer Rain Photography

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Estimations suggest that The Airlie Beach Festival of Music drew a record crowd for its 14th edition, with organisers confident more than 2,000 people packed the big top at Whitsunday Sailing Club each night.  

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“If it wasn’t for Jack Johnson in Brisbane and The Foo Fighters in Townsville, we would have sold out,” said Festival Founder Gavin “Butto” Butlin.   

“Which just goes to show that even with all the challenges we’ve faced, live music in Australia is far from dead.  

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Xavier Rudd set the tone for the weekend with a two-hour headline set on Friday night. He returned to the stage for an encore of his new track ‘Part of Life’, and the show closed with a recording of the late Jane Goodall urging the crowd to look after the planet.  

Friday night also belonged to Bells Beach band Ozone Street, who won the national Passport to Airlie competition, the talent search that gives emerging acts from across Australia a chance to play the festival’s main stage.  

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Other acts like Mark Seymour and The Whitlams kept the music going over the next two days, with Mental As Anything, 19 Twenty and UK band Skinny Living further bolstering the lineup.

Saturday’s showstopping moment came in the morning, when blues guitarist Nathan Cavaleri crossed Pioneer Bay on a jet ski to get to soundcheck.

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Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor Ry Collins said the festival brings at least $5 million into the regional economy each year and reflects a local live music scene that keeps going long after the big top comes down.

“It’s part of our identity and it’s great to see it continuing to thrive,” Mayor Collins said.

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Plans are already underway for next year, with three-day general admission passes for the 2027 festival available at the $300 early bird rate until 30th November.

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