A Day On The Green Milestone

Singer-songwriters Rodriguez, Xavier Rudd, Russell Morris and Archie Roach are at the Bimbadgen Estate in the Hunter Valley, NSW. Over at Peter Lehmann Wines in South Australia’s Barossa Valley are rock bands You Am I, Something For Kate, Spiderbait, Jebediah and the Meanies.

“The idea of getting together with some friends to enjoy good food and wine with great music in a picturesque location is as appealing now as ever,” said Mick Newton, co-director of Roundhouse Entertainment. From a single show outside Melbourne on Jan. 26 (Australia Day) 2001, it’s expanded to each state in Australia, and across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand.

Newton told Pollstar a wider international expansion was possible. “We have been talking to potential partners in other territories,” he confirmed.

Many international tours now include an A Day On The Green stop-over. These included Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Simple Minds, B-52s, Leonard Cohen, Chris Isaak, Bryan Adams and Rob Thomas, while announced so far for this summer are James Taylor and a team-up of Blondie and Cyndi Lauper.

It’s also injected massive tourism dollars into regional areas. According to Clare Valley Tourism in South Australia, a single show injects more than A$1 million ($761,164) to the local economy, with each of the 5,000 spending A$200 ($152.20) per person.