Parkes Shire Council has agreed 'in principle' to manage the Trundle ABBA Festival this October in response to an appeal from Trundle ABBA Festival Inc.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Festival, started by Gary and Ruth Crowley, had eight great years before COVID-19, and council has now been approached to take on its ownership and management.
Councillors making the decision at their April meeting described the event as "wonderful", and a "fun event" that draws crowds to one of our shire's small communities.
But they did express concerns about the workload for their events staff and the ongoing cost of putting on the show.
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
The estimated budget, including staff costs, to deliver the 2022 ABBA Festival is $330,000, although the council has submitted an application for funding.
"The ABBA festival is absolutely a wonderful, fun event, for Trundle and our shire and for people who travel from all over the state and interstate for the event," Cr Bill Jayet said.
"My only concern about holding it this year is the huge amount of stress and strain it's going to put on our promotions team.
"They've just gone through a huge Overture, are about to embark on this year's Elvis festival, they will then start planning for next year's Elvis festival which will be held in January, and now we're going to put on an ABBA festival in October."
Mayor Ken Keith said there were "significant considerations" in taking it on.
"To organise an event like this really does require employing an events coordinator, and working with the Trundle community to ensure we have enough volunteers to ensure that it can be run efficiently," he said at the council meeting.
Councillors also highlighted the cost: with tickets priced at $70 the festival would have to attract at least 4714 patrons. Numbers were down at 2900 in 2019, but Cr Keith said it had previously attracted 4000 to 5000 people.
Councillors are to receive a further report on the where funding could be sourced at their May meeting.
