About me:

good. great. sick balls.

FOR TICKETS AND INFO GO TO

WWW.STICKYTICKETS.COM.AU/1500

The festival known as The Gum Ball was first held back in 2005, appearing in the front yard of the oldies 100 acre bush property at Belford in the Hunter Valley.

I guess you could call it one of those insurpassable bolts of morning epiphany, where the idea of hosting my very own music festival, stepped up and became the mission.

What seemed to be a fairly simple venture of recreating your standard Australian bush paddock into a super natural shady/grassy arena, building some cool seats and benches, getting a few bands to play(including my own) building a big turning circle for traffic, 4km worth of mesh fencing turned into a bit of a front page battle, a case of unchartered territory... Those Gum Ball boys VS the local community and the council, what were they against.... the extra road kill?

Anyhow pulled it off, somehow, lost more money than I'm worth and a few kilos to boot! But thats what its all about. wipe your chin son, if you build it they will come!

And now.... five years down the track...trudging through a butt load of hard work, perseverance and extreme debt, Gum Ball is the little bush fiesta that everybody’s talking about…

And on Saturday 30th May, this rather quaint one-day, family based music and arts festival is going to show you why.

check out the website for details but for the general run down this is how it goes…

you generally roll on down the bush track around brunch...say 10-11am, be greeted by the lovely team to show you to your parking and camping area, there it'll be, right in the bushy action, overlooking the stage and arena, the event is all ages, under 18 must be accompanied by an adult, the event is byo (no glass).

Crack out the chair, rug or log(log supplied), the music kicks off around 11am, the super special showcase of real killer roots, rock, blues and country music that Australia and the rest of the world have to offer runs on one very special super main stage, plus a super side stage, all on a relaxed schedule, no real need to run around too much, can if you want to of course, there's some great food and market stalls catering for all spectrums, a full program of activities for the kiddies, and the adults too for that matter... sculpture, face painting, sandpit, art/crafts etc.

The live music ends around midnight, by then you're generally content to swagger to the tent or chill out around the fires, sing a song and await breakfast in the morning...

for all the up to date info make sure your on the mailing list. go join up on the Gum Ball website .www.thegumball.com.au

More then just your standard music festival, Gum Ball has become a unique celebration of our music, our art, our history, our friends, our culture and most importantly, ourselves as individuals.

The reason Gum Ball is so unique, is that it's gone wide, seperating itself from the flourescence of the city, bringing people back to the roots, keeping it real, doing things quite simply, in its own special way.

Gum Ball is always interested to hear from people, of all age, with fresh ideas and ambition, as thats what this is all about... if your a budding young artisan, be sure to know about this one!