Celebrating their 10th anniversary, the Birdsville Big Red Bash (BBRB) has a ripper festival lined up for attendees, providing camel and helicopter rides, dress-up competitions, a series of artists, two world record attempts and much more.
Fans will have their boot-scooting boots on from 4-6 July as they will endeavor to recreate the largest human image of a country record and grove away to Rock n Roll queen Tina Turner’s Nutbush City dance followed by other terrific entertainment.
The Big Blue Day on Tuesday 4 July, will have guests dressed up in blue wigs and arranged into the shape of Australia.
The current world record is held by Romania with 4807 participants.
Festival organisers are asking for candidates to purchase a $15 blue wig, with all proceeds going to charity.
The Nutbush City dance record attempt will take place on Thursday 6 July and are expecting 5,000 dancers to twirl away to the famous dance.
In front of a 40-meter-high big red sand dune at the Simpson Desert, the occasion will be Australia’s biggest tribute to Tina and the largest occasion of its kind in the world.
The current record was set last year by BBRB.
Singing Nutbush City, honouring Tina and other rock star legends, are artists Kate Ceberano, Wendy Matthews, Grace Knight, Melanie Dyer, Caitlyn Shadbolt, Miranda Carey and Robyn Lou.
Also taking to the stage throughout the three day event, are artists Icehouse, John Williamson, Human Nature, Pete Murray, the Angels, etc.
The operations manager of the outback music festival group Steve Donovan said why it is ‘fulfilling to organise this event.’
“I find it fulfilling to organise this event due to the positive impact it has on attendees,” he said.
“The overall occasion provides a platform for artists to showcase their talent, allows people to experience the remote beauty of the outback, and supports charitable initiatives like fundraising.”
Steve shared his ‘personal favourite’ costume moments.
“My personal favorite was watching about 20 people dressed as inflatable dinosaurs do the Nutbush,” he said.
“This year we’ll encourage people to dress as Tina Turner and we’re expecting to see a big turnout for this.”
Continuously since 2016, the BBRB festival has fundraised for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) raising $500,000 in total from the Nutbush dance alone.
“We hope to facilitate the RFDS in raising upwards of $150,000 over the entire event,” said Steve.
“This goal is important for us to achieve as it enables the provision of vital medical services to
remote areas of Australia.
“The RFDS plays a vital role in bridging the healthcare gap for people living in rural and isolated communities.”