Festival Guide: Queenscliff Music Festival

Answered by: Andrew Orvis - Director

What makes your event stand out from other festivals? At QMF, we always have a really diverse program of music, we're family-friendly, relaxed, and not overcrowded. The festival takes place in the beautiful coastal town of Queenscliff, right by the beach.

What’s improved for your next event?  The important "one-percenters" to use a footy term. We're really proud of what we do and how we do it but we're always improving. A couple of new food stalls, a few different beers, one of the tents is getting a little bigger, the kid's carnival rides are all free.

Favourite festival ‘Do you remember when…’ moment? 2007 QMF we had Paul Kelly play on the Saturday night. That was the Kevin 07 election day, and PK got up on stage and announced the election result to the crowd. Dan Kelly then played a Sunday set that included Drunk On Election Night.

Which artist – living or dead – would you like to have backstage drinks with? Prince. I don't think he was much of a drinker though was he?!

How is the festival landscape changing? There's an abundance of one-day, one-stage events out there at the moment, and more popping up each week. At some point soon that's got to reach tipping point. The demand for artists is crazy, and just not sustainable. Unless we all just book The Wombats every year.

Is there more pressure to create an “instagrammable” festival? Probably. Do I care? Not really. We might be a little less "instagrammable" than others (is that a word now?), but the people that come to QMF, come back, so we're doing something right.

How do you go about ensuring your festival is a safe space? We probably don't do anything intentionally, it just happens naturally, which is how it should be I think. People shouldn't be dickheads. I guess we're lucky in that we have really broad demographics of people attending QMF. People of all ages, from little kids to grandparents.

What are your views on pill testing? Do you think it has a place at festivals? Absolutely. It's a no-brainer. Just do it and get on with it.