Low-key music festival a winner

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 574, 21 February 1995, Page 1

Low-key music festival a winner

Despite a deliberate low-key approach as far as publishing the recent Ohakune Country Music Festival the event was so successful and well supported that it has been decided to hold next year's festival - and perhaps many others thereafter-in Ohakune. Festival organiser Georgie Templeton told the Bulletin that she wanted to test local reaction to this first ever country music festival in Ohakune without too much advance promotional hype. "Now that we know the locals are behind us even without a major media campaign to pro-

mote the festival, we are confident that it will be even more successful next year with a campaign that will promote Ohakune as the country music festival centre of the North island, just as Gore has become the Gold Guitar Awards centre in the South Island and Tamworth in New South Wales' is now the well established centre for country music in Australia," she said. The inaugural Ohakune Country Music Festival was held in Ohakune over Waitangi Day weekend at the Ohakune Club. It was well attended by local country Turn to Page 2

Music

From Page 1 music lovers who numbered more than 1 20 on Saturday 4 February to hear and see members of the River City Country Music Club, the Taupo Music Club, Kiwi Konnection, individual artists from as far as Palmerston North, Auckland and Whangarei, play, sing and perform. Father and daughter team Bob and Florence Phillips of Palmerston North and Phil Pratt of Whangarei were among the guest artists who, with about a dozen local performers, entertained country music lovers over the 2 day weekend. Sunday was a 'jam-season' which attracted a constant stream of visitors, averaging about 40 at any one time, to the upstairs lounge of the Ohakune Club. More details to come next week.