Similar Ford Discovery Centre, Geelong Waterfront, Bells Beach - Victoria, Surf City Plaza, Point Impossible Beach | ||
The Offshore Festival was a camp-out rock and alternative music festival held during Easter at a farm near Torquay, Victoria, Australia from the late 1990s to 2001. It was run by the same organisers as the Falls Festival, held at nearby Lorne on New Year's Eve. It interlinked with the Rip Curl Pro surfing event, held at nearby Bells Beach, and festival ticketholders had free admission to the surfing event.
The festival reached its peak in 2000, when it sold a capacity of 20,000 tickets. However, it was opposed by a group of local residents who campaigned against the festival. When some of their demands, such as turning the music off at midnight, went unheeded, they began taking legal action. This resulted in the festival's inability to obtain a liquor license in 2001. The organizers moved the event to the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds (home of the Big Day Out) the following year, but the event was not successful, drawing a crowd of only 10,000.
In 2002, attempts were made to resurrect the festival in Torquay, and after several legal appeals, a liquor license was granted. The organisers claimed they did not have time to book acts, and plans for any more festivals were cancelled.