Youth Yindi descendants King Stingray will join Australian music royalty when they headline Groovin The Moo at Sunshine Coast Stadium on May 5.

Other huge Aussie acts include; DMA’s, Hot Dub Time Machine, The Jungle Giants, Mallrat, San Cisco and Alison Wonderland.

US outfits GZA from Wu-Tang, Stephen Sanchez, Claire Rosenkranz and Armani White will also play. While greats such as Spice Girls’ Melanie C (AKA Sporty Spice), Kenya Grace, The Kooks and Mura Masa will arrive from the UK. Canada’s The Beaches, and Meduza from Italy are also hot acts appearing in the line-up.

Logistical and financial pressures shifted the festival’s Queensland leg from Townsville to the Coast last year. It was held at Kawana Sports Western Precinct and attracted a 25,000-strong crowd, selling out in days.

This year it moves again to stadium proportions to accomodate an expected 35,000 people.

Buderim music producer Alex Henriksson, who runs Rainbow Valley Records with musician Matt Corby, says the festival is an “amazing thing” for the Coast. 

“Hopefully this will also show people the Coast is a great place to play as a destination, and more smaller events will come of it as well to ignite more nightlife and local events too.”

Mufassa’s Dale Mallett, a popular local roots musician, says “the more festivals on the Sunny Coast the better.”

“Hopefully they get some local acts on the bill to support our music community.”

Wurtulla resident Lisa says she is stoked with this year’s line-up. However she wants concert-goers to be aware they may not have mobile phone reception.

She says last year’s event offered little to no coverage.

“My daughter went and it was drama, drama. There was no cell service. They all got lost and could not reach each other to meet up. Plus we lived on Kawana Island and had no cell service either,” Lisa says.

“Big learning curve.”

Lisa says her daughter wants to go this year, but plans to meet her friends at vantage points if they get lost.

Noise and congestion concers for Groovin The Moo

Residents who live a 15 minute drive from Sunshine Coast Stadium at Bokarina received notices in their letterboxes about the return of Groovin the Moo sparking concerns over noise levels and traffic congestion. 

While most in the music industry are thrilled the Coast’s live music scene is recovering post-pandemic, with Big Pineapple Festival and The Station (formerly Nightquarter) returning this year, some say the region’s infrastructure still isn’t equipped for events of this magnitude.

Minyama resident John, who lives more than five kilometres from the precinct, received the notice from organisers on Tuesday morning. It advises the festival will attract “significant increase in vehicle and pedestrian traffic”.

The letter says “an appointed noise management company” will monitor amplified noise. 

John says while he was pleased to get the early heads up, he was worried about the noise levels given his home is “two suburbs away” from the precinct.

“Especially as I’m being letter dropped in Minyama and the event is at Bokarina. I feel sorry for the Bokarina, and closer, residents,” he says.

“I’m also surprised at the length of time for the festival, going all day and up to 10pm at night. That seems excessive for a suburban location.

“The crowd numbers are large for a suburban area. We will need tight control to manage this number of people.”

Concert-goers complained they were forced to walk kilometres to get an Uber last year, after giving up on bus lines.

Yelo contacted Groovin The Moo last month, for comment regarding noise and traffic, but did not receive a response.

Tickets to Groovin the Moo go on sale on February 6. Sign up for pre-sale here.