Tuesday 30 July 2019

GROUNDWATER 2019 – BREAKING RECORDS AND MAKING MEMORIES

Lee Kernaghan closed out Groundwater
The mighty Groundwater Country Music Festival broke records on the weekend, with more than 70,000 attendees soaking up the winter warm sunshine on the Gold Coast while enjoying some memorable shows from their favourite acts including the Davisson Brothers Band (USA), Adam Eckersley Band, The Wolfe Brothers, and Fanny Lumsden. 

The queen of Australian country music, Beccy Cole, performed an incredible set last night which got crowds pumped for homegrown Gold Coast local success story Lee Kernaghan who closed out the festival in rockin’ style. Kernaghan’s performance left no doubt as to why he is the undisputed ‘King of Country’…he left fans who had travelled from across Australia and around the world happy and sated to leave the Gold Coast with long lasting happy festival memories.

“I’ve just come off stage at Groundwater 2019 and I just wanted to say to every single person who has come from all over Australia to be part of this epic event, it was absolutely legendary and I can’t wait to do it again,” said Lee Kernaghan after his Sunday night performance.

Groundwater provided a huge boom for local businesses, with Broadbeach hotels at 97 per cent occupancy, caravan parks across the coast completely full, and cafes and restaurants packed day through to night. Numbers of attendees were at an all-time high with early indicators suggesting that there were 73,000 patrons this year, up a massive 20 per cent from last year. Additionally, official Groundwater merchandise completely sold out of many lines.

Festival video highlights from day one, two, and three.

Click here for the festival photo gallery.

Patrons at Groundwater celebrated World Cowboy Day on Saturday in the best way possible by watching the award-winning Australian Outback Spectacular at the new performance space - The Outback Arena. This marked the first time the Australian Outback Spectacular has ever come to a music festival, and Groundwater patrons were lucky enough to see this special performance for free. The stockwomen and stockmen performed a remarkable synchronised ride featuring the Australian flag and their lead performers singing I Still Call Australia Home which didn’t leave a dry eye in the house.

Other patrons chose to get into the country spirit by shopping for authentic western clothing at Ariat’s pop-up stall or sipping on a range of cocktail inspired drinks at Oracle Boulevard which were presented in their own keepsake glass cowboy boot.

50 acts performed across 15 stages throughout the festival in Broadbeach’s bars, streets, and parks with the stunning beach as the stage backdrop. All live and all FREE!

All the way from the hills of West Virginia, US headliners the Davisson Brothers Band blew everyone away with their shows on Friday and Saturday.Attendees were treated to a surprise performance when three-time Golden Guitar winner Fanny Lumsden got up on stage to join the Davisson Brothers Band for a song in addition to her own performances.

“Thank you for inviting us into your home and sharing your beautiful culture and heritage with us,” said the Davisson Brothers Band. “It truly has been one of the most incredible experiences of our career and one that we will not forget. You have our heart forever Australia. Thank you and God Bless!!”

Davisson Brothers Band performing on the Surf Parade Stage
Fans got to see for themselves why The Wolfe Brothers cleaned up at the 2019 Golden Guitars earlier this year as their country rock music entertained and resonated with fans during their Saturday night performance.

“What we love about Groundwater is that it is country music in the city,” said The Wolfe Brothers. It’s good times, it’s good people, it’s good music in one of the best places in Australia, there’s not much better than that.”

Tex Perkins tipped his hat to the Big Man with his Far From Folsom showproviding an exciting, fast-paced incarnation of Johnny Cash’s famous prison performances.

“Had a great time playing the Groundwater,” said Tex Perkins. “Great crowd, great folks running the show…let’s do it again!”

Another memorable performance came from the Adam Eckersley Band who are recognised as the foremost proponents of Southern-Rock and wowed fans with their high energy music that blends country, blues and jam.

“We’ve played at Groundwater twice now, it’s an awesome festival and we always have a blast,” said Adam Eckersley.“It’s so well run in a beautiful setting and hopefully we get to do it for many more years to come.”

The unmissable Sunday performance from legendary Redgum and Goannafounders, John Schumann and Shane Howard present Songs That Changed Our Country, pulled a huge crowd that spilled out of The Kurrawa Big Top area. Their patriotic performance and authentic Australian storytelling appealed to ‘true blue’ fans.

Local favourite Casey Barnes’ heartfelt, upbeat music led to thousands of fans packing the streets and local restaurants to sing along to every song.

Fans at Casey Barnes’ Friday performance on Surf Parade Stage
The festival may be over for this year but you can still vote for your favourite artist here for the inaugural P&O Cruises People’s Choice Awards. Vote by 5pm on Tuesday 30th July to go in the running to win the ultimate holiday for two on P&O Cruises ‘Country Cruise’ sailing from Brisbane in December 2019.

It’s no wonder Groundwater is Australia’s fastest growing country music festival with its diverse range of country music, luxurious accommodation with beach views, and cool restaurants and bars just a step away.

Groundwater Country Music Festival is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar, worth $800m to the state’s economy in 2019.

The City of the Gold Coast is also a strong supporter of the festival and has a firm commitment in the Gold Coast becoming Australia’s Events Capital – Groundwater Country Music Festival goes a long way in making this a reality.

Your perfect next event is in Queensland, where live events combine with the most incredible destinations, and life is beautiful one day, perfect the next.

Click to view Groundwater’s social media: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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