Groovin The Moo Programmer Rich Moffat Announces Retirement

Rich Moffat – a programmer for the annual Groovin The Moo festival and programming coordinator of Castlemaine’s MAINfm radio station – has announced his retirement from the music industry and “formal booking roles”.

Moffat shared the news in a post made on Facebook yesterday (February 12), explaining that he’s chosen to step away from his established roles to focus more on teaching and “working a bit closer with people (rather than the endless emails and calls of most of my working life)”. According to his LinkedIn profile, Moffat has been freelancing as a yoga teacher since May of 2019 (and as a wedding DJ since 2016).

“Music will always be my number one passion in life,” the multi-hyphenate continued in his post, “but it feels time to make some space for others to take charge as curators of future events. I have been so lucky to be able to do my ‘dream job’ over the last 30 years. Words cannot express how grateful I am to all the people who have given me opportunities and supported my often wonky visions.”

He went on to note that he’ll “still be available to do advisor type roles, mentoring, or other short-term contracts [and] projects if they come up”, expressing hopes to share his “knowledge and experience”.

“I would love to do more work in the mental health space of those in the creative community,” he added. “Over the last decade I have re-skilled and completed formal teacher trainings in learnings such as Qigong, Mindfulness, Yoga, Pilates, Myofascial release, Tai Chi, Traditional Thai massage, Shiatsu and Chinese medicine. You may also still stumble across me in my ridiculous double life as wedding DJ Rich-Spanning-Time of course. More DJ work would be welcome.”

Rich started working on Groovin The Moo in 2009, four years after its initial launch in 2005. This year’s edition will be his last as programmer, with the lineup being announced at the end of January. It features international heavyweights like The Kooks, The Beaches, Armani White, GZA and Melanie C, as well as local legends like Alison Wonderland, DMA’S and The Jungle Giants.