First Episode of ‘The Rise & Fall of Easterfest’ Out Now

Main Image: Mainstage at Easterfest in 2011, the peak year of the festival (Trent Rouillon).

In the late 90’s a group of Toowoomba church leaders, business people, the chamber of commerce, the local council and the Queensland Police get together with an audacious idea. 

That idea is to hold a gospel music festival that would bring people into Toowoomba on the Easter weekend – a weekend that had traditionally seen the city become a virtual ghost town. 

The story played out in ways that the original board and working group could have only dreamed of, with the Australian Gospel Music Festival, later rebranded as Easterfest, rising to recognition as one of Queensland’s major events. 

That story is unpacked in the first episode of 96five’s new podcast series ‘The Rise & Fall of Easterfest’. 

The first Australian Gospel Music Festival, or simply AGMF, began life in 1999, with then CEO Isaac Moody saying that the first festival was a fantastic event that unfortunately saw not many people attend. 

“There  was a whole lot of pain and all those directors actually put their hand in their pocket and floated it to go again. And it just grew a little bit year on year.  The churches got more involved, the community got more involved, and then eventually many thousands of people from across Australia started attending.” 

The first episode of ‘The Rise & Fall of Easterfest’ explores some of the key moments of the early years of the festival. 

Some of those moments include UK worship pioneers Delirious’ one off show in Toowoomba in January of 2000, and Guy Sebastian’s first ever public performance at AGMF 2004, only months after being crowned the first ever Australian Idol. 

The first episode also looks at other things that helped AGMF and Easterfest to build momentum, including the growth of Christian radio, the newly licensed 96five, and the independent Christian music scenes, both in Brisbane and nationally. 

You’ll hear how an event with humble beginnings grew to become a much loved event by the international artists that performed, and became a major player in Christian music globally, with the ability to attract some of the biggest names in Christian music. 

Easterfest would even be the starting point for a band started by the brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone, with one of their first ever performances at Easterfest in 2009 when they were billed simply as ‘Joel & Luke’. 

The duo would eventually rename themselves as ‘for King + Country’, go on to win a swag of Grammys, and become one of the biggest Christian acts on the planet.

Joel Smallbone said that “the confidence that our Easterfest performance gave us, stepping back into America, really from that point on, stepping into a record deal, stepping into our first album, was paramount in our journey.” 

You can listen to the first episode ‘The Rise’ in the players on this page, or search for Easterfest in your podcast app.

If you enjoy the podcast, don’t be afraid to go hard with the 5 stars, and leave a review with your favourite Easterfest memory. Your ratings and reviews will help others find the podcast.