Comprehensive Event Critique: Big Day Out Music Festival Report

This report provides a comprehensive critique of the Big Day Out music festival held in Sydney in 2014. It examines the event's background, history, and overall success, including its operational overview, activities, and safety measures. The report analyzes ticketing, venue, and problem areas, as well as the sponsorship structure and recommendations for improvement. It also delves into participant profiles, demographics, and the promotion of achievements, alongside the event's impact on culture, identity, and the environment. The media analysis covers coverage and value, with a focus on marketing and promotion. Key recommendations for the festival's future are provided, emphasizing the need for enhanced sponsorship and operational efficiency to maintain its status as a significant music event. The report also highlights the event's contributions to the local music scene and its ability to provide a world-class experience for the audience.

Running head: EVENT CRITIQUE: BIG DAY OUT MUSIC FESTIVAL
EVENT CRITIQUE: BIG DAY OUT MUSIC FESTIVAL
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EVENT CRITIQUE: BIG DAY OUT MUSIC FESTIVAL
Executive Summary
The report considers the Big Day Out music festival 2014 held in Sydney and evaluates the
significant areas of the event. The report is focused towards the understanding of the functional
establishment of the event and its significance towards engaging the target audience. The
background of the event has been given and moving forward the essential aspects that are
concerned with the event have been discussed. The event needs to incorporate more funds
through better sponsorship structure and build effective cooperation with various organizations
in order to develop as a significantly large music event in the country. The social, economic,
cultural and international significance of the event have been discussed.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction and background...........................................................................................................3
Background..................................................................................................................................3
Event history................................................................................................................................3
Overview......................................................................................................................................3
Overall success............................................................................................................................3
Overall growth.............................................................................................................................4
Operational Overview......................................................................................................................4
Operational Success.....................................................................................................................4
Activities and timeline.................................................................................................................4
Safety issues.................................................................................................................................4
Ticketing and registration............................................................................................................5
Venue analysis.............................................................................................................................5
Problem areas...............................................................................................................................5
Sponsorship and Funding................................................................................................................5
Current sponsorship structure......................................................................................................5
Sponsorship recommendations....................................................................................................6
Participation.....................................................................................................................................6
Participant profile........................................................................................................................6

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Nature of participation.................................................................................................................7
Demographics..............................................................................................................................7
Promotion of Achievement..............................................................................................................7
Local achievements.....................................................................................................................7
Promotion of high achievement...................................................................................................8
Experience as a world class event...................................................................................................8
Opportunities to the audience......................................................................................................8
Level of interest and Support.......................................................................................................9
Benefits............................................................................................................................................9
Contribution to culture.................................................................................................................9
Celebration of cultural diversity..................................................................................................9
Sense of identity........................................................................................................................10
Job creation................................................................................................................................10
Political benefits........................................................................................................................10
Environmental impact................................................................................................................10
Stakeholder’s impact.................................................................................................................10
Media Analysis..............................................................................................................................11
Media coverage and value.........................................................................................................11
Outcomes of media exposure.....................................................................................................11
Marketing and promotion..............................................................................................................12

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Promotional Activities...............................................................................................................12
Advertising................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion and recommendations.................................................................................................12
Key Recommendation...............................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction and background
Background
The event being considered for the report is Big Day Out music festival 2014 in Sydney.
Big Day Out is an annual festival that is celebrated across Australia since 1992. The festival
brings together popular artists and bands from contemporary music genres of rock, electronic,
international mainstream and local. The festival was founded by Ken West and Vivian Lees.
Event history
The event has been held every year from 1992 to 1997 and then again from 1999 to 2014.
Hence it has been held for a total of around 21 years. The event will be held again after the gap
of few years in 2014.
Overview
The event is run currently by AJ Maddah and an American music festival promoter
known as C3 Presents. The event however was founded by Ken West and Vivian lees in 1992.
The event is managed privately with many other co-hosts. It has been held across many cities
across Australia and New Zealand. The major cities included Sydney, Auckland, Melbourne,
Adelaide, Gold Coast and Perth (22 years of the Big Day Out 2018).
Overall success
The event have been largely successful in the initial years. Moreover, the success of the
event grew much between 1999 and 2014. The organizers have been able to showcase bands like
Nirvana, Red hot Chili peppers, Violent Femmes, The Ramones, Limp Bizkit, Metallica and
others over the years (Sydney, Australia Music Events | Eventbrite 2018). The average crowd

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attendance have been significantly large over the years. The festival has been able to pull crowds
of 30 to 40 thousand in the past. It is a greatly recognized festival in Australia and New Zealand.
Overall growth
The overall growth of the festival have been fluctuating to some extent. The festival had
witnessed steady growth from 1992 to 1997 but diminished in popularity from then onwards. It
was revived in 1999 and have enjoyed good growth till 2014. The number of music acts
significantly increased from 2007 to 2014.
Operational Overview
Operational Success
The event operations have been successful for the large part. However, there have been to
instances of death at the festival in 2001 and 2009 for which the festival organizers had lawsuits
filed against them. Despite these issues the general management of the event have been effective.
The city authorities have cooperated with the organizers.
Activities and timeline
The Sydney event of Big Day Out 2014 was held on January 24. The event was held in a
systematic acts order. The first act was from Nicky Romero followed by the band, Bloody
Beetroots, Band of Horses and Vampire weekend. The Next act was the Killers and the final act
was Red Hot Chili Peppers. There were 15-20 minutes gap between the various performances.

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Activity By Who When Weeks Dec
6
Dec
13
Dec
20
Dec
27
Jan
3
Jan
10
Jan
17
Weeks
to go
6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Confirmation
of date
Event
Management
Team
1st
December
Confirmation
of event with
city
authorities
Event
Management
Team
4th
December
Confirmation
of date with
stakeholders
Event
Management
Team
8th
December
Research and
agree upon
venue
Event
Management
Team
Confirmation
of maps
venues and
other
Event
Management
Team

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essentials
Online
briefing and
event
reconfirmatio
n
Event
Management
Team
Identification
of VIP guests
Event Heads
Co-ordination
of
personalized
letter
Event Heads
Confirmation
of Day of
event
Event Heads
Safety issues
The organizers had arranged a tight security system taking into consideration the past
issues that had occurred. ID proofs were required to enter the venue. The visitors were pre-
requested not to bring expensive jewellery. The venue was sufficiently barricaded in order to
secure the venue area.

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Ticketing and registration
The tickets were available online as well as offline counters across the city. The ticket
masters and BDO operators for ticketing were given the responsibilities for ticket sales and
distribution. The highest price for an all-inclusive ticket was 165 Australian Dollars. Tickets
were divided into high priced, middle priced and lower priced.
Venue analysis
The venue was Sydney showground at the Sydney Olympic Park. The venue was within
reach of an average city crowd with regular trains and buses and other forms of public transport
readily available. The venue is within half an hour drive from the main city. Hence, the venue
was very convenient.
Problem areas
The main problem area that was identified was the lack of required security personnel.
On the basis of the venue being visited by an estimated 35, 000 people there were much less
amount of security personnel or volunteers who were available.
Sponsorship and Funding
Current sponsorship structure
The sponsorship of the event was important as the organizers themselves were not
sufficient to cater to the financial requirement for holding the festival. The chief organizers were
AJ Maddah and American promoter C3 Presents. The rest of the sponsorship was done from
various other smaller organizers. Around 50% of the sponsorship was done by the chief
organizers. Moving forward the sponsors were other small scale event organizers from Sydney
that were responsible for financing most of the rest of the event. The rest of the sponsorship was

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done by small and medium music companies in the city. The remaining financing was gathered
through advertisers and other sources. The sponsorship structure was complicated but effective
as the Big Day out was a large music festival. The sponsors however, were not large in number
and amounted to only around 20 significant sponsors.
Sponsorship recommendations
It is recommended that the organizers take into consideration a more fluid sponsorship
structure in the future. This will enable them to get far more sponsors and raise more money for
the event. The popularity of the event needs to grow further. For this to happen the organizers
need to rope in more sponsorships. This will also enable the better media presentation of the
event. The large sponsorship would help in the presentation of far more events. Another
important aspect is getting the city authorities involved in the sponsorship process. Along with
increasing the audience reach this can help to give the festival a new level of acceptability among
the people of Sydney. This way the event can truly grow as a significant music festival in and
around Australia. Hence, finding new sponsorship is important.
Participation
Participant profile
The event has seen participation of a large number of music groups, musicians and bands
from Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the world. The participants included bands such
as the Killers, Hunting grounds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Bloody Beetroots, Band of Horses and
Vampire Weekend. Nicky Romero, famous Dutch DJ was a special attraction along with the
American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Along with the same the event featured some of the
most prominent and imminent Australian musicians and music bands. The main individual

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musicians and bands were prominent names in the international music industry with both
contemporary and past accolades in music.
Nature of participation
Since the event was held in Australia, the predominant participants were musicians and
music bands from Australia. There were a few emerging musicians from New Zealand that
participated in the event. The main attraction was the European and American artists. Nicky
Romero was the significant presence among the European artist. The most important American
band was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In comparison to the Australian and world artists the New
Zealander music artists were less in number. However, they had significant exposure through the
event.
Demographics
Around 14% of the audiences were regular Australian festival goers that attend more than
four or five such festivals in a year. Around 44% of the recorded festival goes were moderate
public that attend 2 to 3 festivals in a year. In all the participants were mostly bands and music
artists from in and around Australia. The foreign music artists and bands were 20-30%. The
festival had audiences that were mostly from Australia and New Zealand. The people from
Sydney were the main audience but many were from across other cities and other parts of the
world as well.
Promotion of Achievement
Local achievements
Local achievements were showcased in the form of budding Australian musicians. This
helped them to get significant audience exposure. Many of the Australian artists performed in

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their very first large music festival. The event focuses on showcasing the local talent of an area
through their even. Hence, the Sydney leg of the event had many local participants that
showcased their talents. The most important factor was the large number of foreign bands,
mainly English and American that were participating in the event. The local bands got an
effective interactive platform to perform with the big international names in music.
Promotion of high achievement
The high achievement was that the local bands got a chance to share stages with the big
music bands and musicians across the world. Although the music festival did not have any
particular promotional activity for displaying the achievement of locals, it was important to note
that local musicians got a great chance to interact with the established musicians in the world and
abroad. This provided them with enough opportunities to improve themselves.
Experience as a world class event
Opportunities to the audience
The event was truly world class considering the number of international artists that were
involved in the event. Bands like Red Hot Chilli Peppers and musicians like Nicky Romero,
increased the experience opportunities of the audience. It is important to note that the event had a
large number of popular international bands and musicians that performed on stage. The most
important factor was that the event was not confined to only bands or individual artists. A large
number of musicians, bands and solo artists from around the world participated in the event. The
event was also held in separate cities in a series. Hence, there was also the anticipation factor that
greatly added the acceptability factor among the audience. The organization was good with
world class music instruments and audio systems being installed across the venue. The

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international musicians interacted with the audience and greatly improved the event
acceptability.
Level of interest and Support
The level of interest among the people was satisfactory. The effectiveness of the program
had reduced to a certain extent in the recent years. However, the recent version of the program
generated significant fanfare among the music lovers of the country. The festival rejuvenated
much of the support it had lost in the past version. The availability of bands such as Red Hot
Chilli Peppers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and individual artists like Nicky Romero increased the demand
for tickets. The support generated was not huge but substantially effective. The result was that
the event was a significant success in the city and the country. The display of international artists
generated great interest among the spectators. The stakeholders were significantly influenced by
the success of the event.
Benefits
Contribution to culture
The event became a significant contributor to the Australian music culture. Events like
the big day out have been successful in generating interest about music events in Australia and
New Zealand. The Australian music culture was showcased to the world as a result of the event.
Celebration of cultural diversity
The event was definitely a celebration of the cultural diversity of Australia. The large
number of European and American music performers, singers and bands contributed to the
celebration of culture. The various music performances celebrated diversity and inclusion in
society of the cultural, racial or sexually diverse communities.

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Sense of identity
Every city in which the Big Day Out is held develops a unique cultural identity through
the program. A strong sense of community was developed among the residents of the city
concerning the event.
Job creation
The security volunteers, ticket masters and ground workers were all hired from the city.
This created the better development of jobs concerning the event for the city. The security
personnel were also hired from the city along with the event management teams. The event
resulted in the creation of many jobs.
Political benefits
Due to the event the effectiveness of the Government authorities of the city of Sydney
were showcased to a large number of people. Hosting a large scale music event resulted in the
generation of positive point of view in regards to the political scene of the city.
Environmental impact
The event contributed to a large number of waste being generated in the premises. This
was because of the waste that were left by the visitors. The event management team had to take
the support of the local authorities for the cleanup.
Stakeholder’s impact
The stakeholders were positively impacted as the event was greatly successful. The
organizers, sponsors and advertisers were able to generate profits as well as audience reach.

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Media Analysis
Media coverage and value
The program was telecasted online and was covered by many Australian media channels.
However, the program was also telecasted by many New Zealand channels. The media coverage
was not huge but significant. This was in line with the promotional media activities of the
organizers. The program was well presented through print, TV an online media. The program
was live streamed online for better results. The program got showcased in many rock and music
related magazines. The Australian, a significant print and online media name promoted the event
through their channels. The Big day out as a result of the media exposure was able to garner
significant popularity. The online media was hugely successful in the promotion of the event.
The online streaming enabled the hardcore fans to enjoy the festival from faraway places.
Outcomes of media exposure
The outcome of the media exposure was good. The media exposure helped the program
to garner positive reviews. The Big Day Out was never held continuously for many years at a
stretch. This required the program to be showcased by significant media channels. Thus, it
became important that the program’s popularity was rejuvenated through the media channels.
The latest version of the event is Sydney received significant media attention due to Red Hot
Chili Peppers and other bands that have been past hits in the music scene. The media exposure
helped the show to garner significant attention (Gration, Raciti, Getz & Andersson 2016). The
magazine articles helped to rejuvenate the position of the media in regards to the performers at
the program. . The online media was hugely successful in the promotion of the event and helped
to garner significant online attention.

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Marketing and promotion
Promotional Activities
Promotional activities were greatly needed to make the program successful. This was
because the previous versions of the program were not as successful due to the lack of big
names. In this version of the program bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and many famous
European musicians were performing. A large part of the promotional activities were done online
through social media and the official Big Day Out websites (Sydney, Australia Music Events |
Eventbrite 2018). The tickets were mostly sold online considering the large audience reach that
can be done online. Various website sales channels were used for ticket booking. The activities
were mainly done in Australia and New Zealand as the event was in particular significance to the
countries. Apart from the online promotions flyers, banners and other promotional elements were
displayed in and around the various parts of the city of Sydney.
Advertising
The communications channels that were predominantly used as mentioned above were
mainly online. However, various print and television media partners made it possible to display
the advertisements in relation to the program in newspapers and magazines. The local Sydney
rock and music magazines were used for advertising. Banners were displayed around the
important centers of the city with the names of the big artists that were to perform in the festival.
The advertising partners were used to effectively promote the festival. The local music websites
helped to generate popularity.
Conclusion and recommendations
The event was significantly successful and the organizers are considering the idea of
holding the event in larger scale in the future. The event was not a huge success but provided

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significant exposure to the musicians. The event can be said to be a good improvement over the
last few versions of the event. The event generated fanfare considering the performances of the
old popular bands. The event had significant media exposure. The level of interest from among
the audience was significant as the majority of the crowd had previously been part of the former
Big Day Out festivals that boasted of performances from such bands as Nirvana, Metallica and
Ramones. The audience expectations were fulfilled by the presence of bands that had relatively
large previous successes in the music industry.
Key Recommendation
Firstly, it is highly recommended that the sponsorship structure of the program is changed
in the future. This will make way for better funds gathering and better management of the event.
Secondly, the event promotion need to be effective done in the future. Better promotion will
enable the effective media representation of the event and it can be promoted worldwide.
Thirdly, it becomes much important that the event is done considering the city authorities as
essential stakeholders. This will be beneficial for both the festival and the city in which the
festival is held. It is much important that in the future the program is celebrated with greater
fanfare in order for it to regain and grow beyond its past popularity.

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Bibliography
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Sydney, Australia Music Events | Eventbrite. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/d/australia--sydney/music--events/
Presentations from How To Promote Your Music Event Like A Pro - Eventbrite UK Blog.
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Getz, D., & Getz, D. (1997). Event management & event tourism.
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Getz, D. (2017). Developing a Framework for Sustainable Event Cities. Event
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Gration, D., Raciti, M., Getz, D., & Andersson, T. D. (2016). Resident valuation of planned
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Amerena, D. (2018). The end of the Big Day Out is the end of one-day festivals. Hang up your
singlets | Dom Amerena. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-culture-
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singlets

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