Behind the chaos of Canberra's legendary summer music festival
Laurence Kain ran Foreshore, a major Canberra dance music festival, and shares stories including money so wet it needed a clothes dryer.
Laurence Kain spent a decade running Foreshore, Canberra's summer dance music festival that drew about 20,000 people and hosted world-class DJs. In 2007, torrential rain soaked the entire event.
Cash came in so wet that organisers had to dry it in a clothes dryer before counting. The muddy festival became memorable for all the wrong reasons.
On bump-out, tractors bogged, then rescue tractors bogged too. A near-crush happened in 2008 when security forgot to fill water barriers at the entry to the main stage.
In 2010, Dutch superstar Tiesto refused to perform until the team adjusted speaker angles by 3 per cent, delaying gates by half an hour. Kain also paid for six weddings at a nearby venue, The Lobby, to keep stakeholders happy during festival days.
- 20,000 people
- Attendance
- 3 per cent for Tiesto performance
- Speaker angle adjustment
- 6 at The Lobby venue
- Weddings funded
Why it mattersForeshore helped establish Canberra as a serious live-music city and the stories show the invisible work behind large-scale events.
AustraliaCanberra's cultural calendar and nightlife were shaped by Foreshore; the festival remains iconic for a generation of ACT residents.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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