The crew behind the annual UNIFY - A Heavy Music Gathering festival are starting to get the ball rolling with 2019's event and music fans (and industry professionals alike) cannot wait to see whats in store this time around. If you've been living under a rock, you wouldn't know that the event has moved just down the road from the OG Tarwin Lower Recreation Reserve site, this move was made to accommodate the increase in number of attendees each year and to maximize the resources available to make sure everyone was able to enjoy themselves for the entirety of the festival. UNIFY Organisers released a statement about the move, saying:
"We didn’t have enough camping space, or enough space to provide the quality of toilets, coverage, food elements, market stalls etc. that we wanted to add in to the festival. Everything we wanted to do was hindered by space. Even our stage was smaller than we wanted, which was making it hard for us to provide a great backstage/production for the calibre of artists we were attracting. We tried all kinds of models to make the Recreation Centre work, and we tried to get access to more space to run things. But every way we looked at it, and everything we tried, we couldn’t see a future where we could make it work."
So as you can see, they really are taking our enjoyment (and feedback) into considerations to make this the best fan/community involved music festival in Australia. And by the sounds of things the new site will play host to more gatherings in the future:
"The new site was a blank canvas. Do you know how amazing that felt? It’s a private farm and we have a long-term lease with full support from our local community. The owner is a friend who is involved with the Recreation Centre and has helped us from the start. We’ve started building the site and planning out how to use it to the best of our ability."
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6EHr8J5OZo&w=640&h=360]
"We started dreaming of how we could build a really big stage, a beautiful backstage for the artists, roads and access points that made everything easier. Then we thought about rides, markets, toilets, shade and basically building ourselves a Heavy Music Wonderland. We thought about all the people that requested better camping options and camper vans."
"And mostly, we dreamed of doing this event long term. We want something that is sustainable and can improve every single year. This was our way of achieving that. There are many incredible camping events around the world, and we’ve done our research into what made those so successful and sustainable. This is the move that allows us to be that as well."
[gallery ids="https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Unify-Site-2019-Neal-Walters.jpg|UNIFY 2019 - New Site - Photo by Neal Walters,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Unify-Stage-2019.png|UNIFY 2019 - New Stage Plans" type="rectangular"]
But what upgrades will the new site have? Well, the following of course:
- A more spacious and comfortable campsite.
- Increased community resources across the campsite (Security, The Lighthouse, UNITY Crew)
- More toilets across the entire festival site.
- Unisex, Male and Female toilet options.
- A larger team maintaining the toilets across the weekend.
- A more streamline entry process to get you into the festival.
- Increasing our ticket processing team to get your wristbands much quicker.
- A larger ‘Corner Store’ in the campsite.
- More food vendors
- For the first time ever, you will have the option to bring a campervan on site if you have one!
- And last but certainly not least, the ability to arrive and camp the day before the festival begins
In years gone by, due to travel arrangements and unexpected delays, some punters have had to set up camp in the rain, darkness and even missed out on the first few bands playing the first day of the festival. All this is set to change with the ability for attendees to arrive at the campsite on January 10th, the day before the event begins, so they can be well and truly set up by the time the gates open on day one. Spots are limited so keep an eye on the Website for more or check back in here when the Official Lineup is Announced & Tickets go On-Sale August 9th.
The UNIFY Organisers have really put their all into making 2019's event a massive success not only for the punters, but for the bands, staff and associates alike. This is our community, our fanbase and most importantly our gathering. Let's make it a day weekend to remember.
I also got in touch with the UNIFY crew to try and score some insider information about the lineup, and they confirmed to Wall of Sound that:
“an international artist will be playing one of their early 2000's albums in full”
So help spread the word and let us know who you think they're talking about. We'll have more for you again soon...
Check out all the other Clues in our Rolling Coverage Here
Browny @brownypaul
Follow UNIFY on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Also, keep an eye on Wall of Sound's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more information sooner than you think....
https://www.facebook.com/unifygathering/videos/2206623936018715/
UNIFY GATHERING 2019
January 11th - 13th @ Tarwin Lower, VIC
Lineup Announced 9am Thursday August 9th
Tickets On Sale Midday Thursday August 9th via Website
