Aussie World will be transformed into a nighttime music playground when a new festival launches on the Sunshine Coast over the Easter long weekend.
Sunny Side Up will take over the Palmview theme park on April 4, with more than 20 artists performing across three stages.
Organiser Jordan Small, who operates the Wreck Room in the Aussie World precinct and has previously worked with global superstars including Snoop Dogg, said the event would transform the theme park into an immersive festival space.
“Its a large-scale venue with the infrastructure and team ready to host a large-scale event,” he said.
“While the rides won’t be running, the event will be held inside such a unique space – walking throughout a lit-up theme park at night with music in the air, food and bar outlets, performers and more – it’ll be very special.”
The lineup includes Sneaky Sound System, Bag Raiders, De Saint, Kessin and UK act Joshwa, with DJ sets from Golden Features, Mashd N Kutcher, Cosmo’s Midnight and Running Touch.
The event is being delivered by Mr Small’s Mudcrab Music and Events, which already manages several major events at Aussie World. The park has not previously been used for a music festival.
“Mudcrab Music and Events runs the major events for the Aussie World complex – Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and so on,” he said.
“After presenting the concept and workshopping it with all key stakeholders, we came up with a great concept that will roll out on Easter Saturday. We had security, licensing and insurance requirements that have all been met as well.”
He said the park’s existing events team would help manage crowds on the night.
“We have a great management, events and security team who handle large numbers at the park almost every single week,” Mr Small said.
“We’ll have buses rolling out to take people home after the event and will be working with Uber and taxi companies to ensure we have sufficient methods of travel home.
“We are lucky to have an extremely large car park onsite, plus overflow parking in several locations.”
Mr Small said the festival was expected to attract visitors from outside the region.
“We’ve got a very large amount of people coming in from out of the Sunshine Coast – leading to them eating, playing and staying locally,” he said.
“It’s another small step in putting the Sunshine Coast on the map for larger events.”
Mr Small, who began his career as a DJ, said Sunny Side Up was part of a broader expansion of his events and production business.
“Everything has gradually come together,” he said.
“I started out as a DJ for myself and worked up to learning how to book DJs, then do the marketing, run the ads and so on,” he said.
“Now we have a full production business providing the sound, lighting and DJ gear for hire or install at the majority of venues on the Sunshine Coast. We can utilise this production for the event and scale both parts of the business.”
He said he had experience delivering large shows featuring international artists.
“I manage and book entertainment and events for a dozen venues across NSW, South Australia and Queensland – some small and some large,” he said.
“Over time we have gradually started putting on larger shows and acts, including Pnau, the Jungle Giants, Cyril, Odd Mob and Snoop Dogg.”
He said working with global hip-hop star Snoop Dogg was memorable.
“Definitely an eye-opening experience,” Mr Small said.
“There was another level of logistics, operations and expectations for a gig of this size. We did two shows on the same night also, which was exhilarating.”
Mr Small said he’d tried to keep Sunny Side Up ticket prices affordable amid rising living costs.
“In times that are really tough – cost of living, mortgages, petrol and so on – we’ve worked hard to make this event as cost-effective as possible,” he said.
“Tickets started at $49, which is unheard of for festivals. The final release is flying at $69.”
Sunny Side Up is an 18-plus event and will run from 5-10pm. Tickets are available here.
