Offshore Festival

Offshore Festival

The Offshore Festival was a camp-out rock and alternative music festival[citation needed] held during Easter at a farm near Torquay, Victoria, Australia in the late 1990s, 2000 and 2001.[1] It was run by the same organisers as the Falls Festival, held at nearby Lorne on New Year's Eve. It interlinked with the major Rip Curl Pro surfing event, held at nearby Bells Beach. The policy reason behind starting the festival was to keep the youth entertained and off the streets of Torquay while the contest was on. Ticketholders had free admission to the Pro, significantly boosting its attendance.

The festival reached its peak in 2000, when it sold a capacity of 20,000 tickets. However, it was plagued by a small group of local residents who campaigned vociferously against the festival. When some of their demands, such as turning the music off at midnight, went unheeded, they began taking legal avenues. This resulted in the festival's inability to obtain a liquor license in 2001, and marked the end of their reign in Torquay. They moved the event to the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds (home of the Big Day Out) the following year, but the event was not successful, drawing a crowd of only 10,000.

In 2002, attempts were made to resurrect the festival in Torquay, and after a string of appeals, a liquor license was granted. However, it had taken so long to obtain the licence that the organisers claimed they did not have time to book acts, and plans for any more festivals were cancelled.

References

Coordinates: 38°19′26.34″S 144°17′39.46″E / 38.3239833°S 144.2942944°E / -38.3239833; 144.2942944