By Mikayla van Loon
Young music fans in Mount Evelyn who have missed out on attending events in the last two years are in luck, with a local one day festival coming this weekend.
A live music event that supports young people in all aspects of the music industry will be hosted in Mooroolbark on Sunday 6 February.
The All Ages Tour hosted by The Push, an Australian charity that supports young people by getting them onstage, behind the scenes and on the ground watching, is bringing a leg of the tour to Red Earth Community Park.
Not only will young people who attend the event be able to see up and coming Australian bands The Chats and Teenage Joans but the tour has given local people the chance to organise the event close to home.
Supported by the Victorian Government, each of the 18 events around Victoria are being staged by teams of local young people as part of the FReeZa program.
Chloe Booth, a Ringwood FReeZA member, joined the event organising team in Mooroolbark to gain experience in the behind the scenes work that goes into a festival.
“I feel like young people have been so deprived of the community that comes with live music for the last two years,” she said.
“So it’s been really encouraging to be able to host and organise an event that fosters an opportunity for people of all ages to come together and celebrate and listen to live music again because it’s been so long.”
Wanting to make it safe and inviting for people of all ages, the tour is drug and alcohol free, something Chloe said she hopes means more people feel comfortable in attending.
“There can be a lot of danger with young people wanting to go watch their favorite bands but maybe they don’t feel so comfortable being in environments exposed to drugs and alcohol.”
Chloe said aside from the opportunities the All Ages Tour gives to young people, she said it’s a great way to reactivate live music in an accessible manner in local suburbs.
“It’s amazing how the tour is reactivating the local area because nowadays if you want to go watch live music, you have to go all the way into the city in Melbourne,” she said.
“There’s so much local talent and there’s so many people in the outer suburbs and in regional Victoria that are craving live music as well.”
After so many cancellations of live gigs, Chloe hopes this is the start of more regular performances for musicians.
“I’m hoping not only that it’s beneficial for the community, in terms of being able to hang out with friends and whatnot, but also for the musicians who haven’t been able to have a job pretty much for the last two years.”
With the event kicking off at 1.30pm on Sunday, Chloe said people should expect to have a lot of fun.
“Expect really good tunes, really good vibes and a really good time,” she said.
“It’s going to be good weather. We’re going to have lots of merch from all the artists as well, which is exciting.
“Expect to have fun because we’ve all been locked at home for so long and it’ll just be nice to be able to go out and dance and enjoy yourself and listen to some good music.”
Other legs of the tour feature artists like Allday, Sycco, Mallrat, Thelma Plum, Alex Lahey and The Smith Street Band.
Tickets on sale now through Moshtix. Visit thepush.com.au for more info and to buy tickets.
