Dates October Long Weekend Years active 1985–2014 | Location(s) Sydney, Australia Founded by David Hogg | |
The Black Stump Music and Arts Festival (called 'Black Stump,' 'Black Stump Festival' or just 'Stump' for short) is a four-day Christian festival that is held in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan region over the Labour Day long weekend, often the first weekend in October.
Contents
It was announced at the 2014 Festival that it would be the last. There are plans for a new festival in the future.
Features
Although the format of the festival has changed slightly from year to year, there are some constant features including:
Main Stage (called Big Top 1995-2006, 2011-) - the primary venue used for Saturday morning, Sunday night and Monday Morning Bible Studies, Worship & Music. During the nights it is the venue used for headline and international acts.
Fools Theatre (formerly Off Broadway) - interaction and comedy venue.
Sacred Space - Alternative worship.
The Village - food and service venues and addition performance space.
The Supper Club - small stage for music with cafe style tables and food.
Metro - primary Rock venue
History
Black Stump has been held annually since 1985 with the exception of four years: 1987, 1995, 2000 and 2010.
For most of its existence Black Stump has been held at Cataract Scout Park, Appin NSW, Australia and before that at Cattai.
Early History
The first festival was held to coincide with International Youth Year and was inspired by Pebblebrook in New Zealand and the Greenbelt Festival in the UK. It was organised by individuals from Baptist, Church of Christ, Uniting and Anglican churches as well as other youth orientated Christian organizations.
The first and second festivals were held in 1985 and 1986 at Cattai (at the former Paradise Gardens site).
From 1988 it was then held at Cataract Scout Park until 2007.
Gap Years
The festival was not held in 1987 in order to plan to make it a regular festival, and to plan the relocation to Cataract Scout Park.
The intended 1995 festival was cancelled due to a significant financial shortfall resulting from the 1994 festival.
The festival was not held in 2000 because the Sydney Olympics ended on the October Long weekend.
The festival was not held in 2010 due to projected ticket sales being too low to meet increasing operating costs at the venue.
Equestrian Centre years
In 2008, Black Stump moved to the Sydney International Equestrian Centre in Horsley Park, due to ageing facilities at Cataract Scout Camp. From 2011 Blackstump is returning to a rejuvenated Cataract Scout Park.
Notable Performers
Many artists have appeared at Black Stump and then gone onto wide popularity in the Christian or secular world. These include the Newsboys, Rebecca St James, David Butts (Hooley Dooleys), Tim Harding (Hi-5), Sarah Blasko, Butterfly Boucher and Paul Colman.