Grayson

The Garden Party

Some of Australian music’s biggest names will unite for a major music festival to be held in Orange in 2010. Jimmy Barnes, The Whitlams and Vanessa Amorosi will headline The Garden Party, a one-day event to be held in the Orange Botanic Gardens on Saturday, March 13, 2010.

The Central Western Daily can announce the festival which has been in the pipeline for six months. Organisers ZPM Promotions are splashing out $300,000 to stage the first festival of its type for the city. The event will capitalise on Orange’s reputation as a leader in regional tourism and the success of similar festivals such as A Day On The Green in Mudgee.

Organisers will devote two days to the construction of a mammoth stage in the meadowland area of the gardens to cater to a crowd of 5000 people. Diana Anaid, Grayson, country artist John Swan and local artist Amber Cashel will also perform at the nine-hour show. Organisers have spent much of 2009 negotiating with artists and Orange City Council to secure the event. Event manager Simon Rollin said Orange’s 40,000-strong population, food and wine culture and proximity to Sydney were the clinchers in bringing the event to the city. He said the long-term goal was to make The Garden Party the biggest annual music festival west of the Blue Mountains.

"It’s about time Orange residents were treated to a festival of a similar scale to what metropolitan areas enjoy,” he said. Mr Rollin said he hoped the festival would become another tourism drawcard for the city. "Part of doing these things is to showcase the region, maybe that won’t happen the first year but we certainly expect it to grow,” he said. "One of the other strong points is that Orange already does have a very strong reputation in Sydney as a weekend destination.” Organisers chose the seven-act line-up to provide a balance of major, up-and-coming and local talent.

Ms Cashel, who will release her second album the same week as the festival, will play a one-hour show with a full band and string quartet. She said she wasn’t daunted by the prospect of playing alongside artists like Jimmy Barnes. "I’m really excited, it’s not a threatening thing. I’m a truckie’s kid, I grew up on Jimmy Barnes. Every musician wants to meet him,” she said.

Tickets to The Garden Party go on sale at through Ticketek Cost is $89.90 for General Admission and $119.90 for VIP seating in front of the stage. Children under 12 with adult supervision will receive free entry to the general admission area. The Garden Party is on Saturday March 13, gates open at 1 pm.