Meredith Music Festival

The 6th Annual Meredith Music Festival, held December 14 and 15, 1996, at the Supernatural Amphitheatre. For a while it looked as though there would be no Festival this year, after one of the three founding organisers, Chris Nolan, was struck by a catastrophic illness. With the full blessing of Mary and Jack Nolan, and with an outpouring of help from the local townspeople, it was decided to go ahead as a private benefit and partial fund-raiser for its sick co-founder. The quality and diversity of bands stepped up a notch. Tex, Don and Charlie, with Jim White on drums, provided a genuine highlight with their minimalist spooky folky blues, the crowd cheering for many minutes after the band had left the stage. Other highlights were Snout, The Dumb Earth, The Mark Of Cain, The Paradise Motel, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, Chris Wilson and Shane O'Mara and the many other first-rate local acts. The weather was fine, the facilities were better and the Festival again sold out well in advance. This was also the year The Arch Of Love first appeared, brought along by a patron, going on to become a much-loved institution at Meredith.