Off the back of being recognised as Queensland’s Live Event of the Year, the Caloundra Music Festival (CMF) has been announced as a nominee in the 2020 Queensland Music Awards under the ‘Festival of the Year’ people’s choice category.

Twice in the running for the industry award (in 2018 and 2019), the Caloundra beachside family friendly event will be hoping to make it third time lucky this year. But it’s facing stiff competition from other local favourities such as The Big Pineapple Music Festival and the Sunshine Coast’s biggest multi-arts event, Horizon Festival.

The Caloundra Music Festival takes place over the October long weekend. In 2019 the festival welcomed more than 32,500 guests and generated $4.4 million in economic impact.

Sunshine Coast Division 2 Councillor Tim Dwyer said the festival had a reputation for delivering an eclectic program showcasing a variety of music genres and offered something for all ages, as a family friendly event.

“Our post event survey shows strong results around community pride regarding festival appeal, the location, and the experience the festival offers patrons.

“A total of 95 per cent of surveyed visitors stated the Festival added to the appeal of the Sunshine Coast.

“The QMA’s Festival of the Year Award is a publicly voted category, so we will be asking all of our festival fans to vote for CMF.

“The two festivals with the highest number of votes will be invited to attend the QMA ceremony on March 3, 2020 at The Fortitude Music Hall and hopefully the Sunshine Coast will have two nominees in attendance,” he said.

The Queensland Music Awards are produced by QMusic, as a celebration of Queensland’s music industry.

The Caloundra Music Festival is initiative of Sunshine Coast Council and supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar, worth $880m to the state’s economy in 2020.

For festival information www.caloundramusicfestival.com

For voting information https://themusic.com.au/page/qmas

Voting starts – 9am, Thursday 23 January

Voting closes – 9pm, Thursday 6 February

Image credit: David de Groot Photography