WINTON’S ICONIC WAY OUT WEST FEST IS BACK!

After a 12 month pause, WINTON’S WAY OUT WEST FEST will be back in 2021.

Winton Shire Council announced today that the festival will be held TUESDAY 6 – SUNDAY 11 APRIL next year with some exciting changes that includes additional activities and entertainment offerings in the days leading up to the main weekend of celebrations.

The event is scheduled during the Easter school holiday’s giving festival goers time to plan and to travel to their amazing Winton Outback experience.

The contract to organise the event was recently awarded to experienced music industry veterans, Jeff Chandler and Greg Shaw from Chandler Shaw Events.

Chandler and Shaw have extensive experience in the entertainment industry having worked with or represented artists such as Keith Urban, Kenny Rogers, Burt Bacharach, Glenn Frey, Foreigner, Tommy Emmanuel, Lee Kernaghan, Sara Storer, James Blundell and Troy Cassar-Daley.

The pair have also worked on or been involved in numerous music events including the Gympie Music Muster, the Tamworth Country Music Festival, Urban Country Festival and recently, The Concert For Joy – a tribute to legendary performer and songwriter, Joy McKean.

Elaborating on the company’s appointment, Jeff Chandler said “Greg and I are delighted to be chosen by Winton Shire Council as producers of Winton’s Way Out West Fest. While the Covid-19 crisis has certainly presented some challenges to the festival and tourism industries, the silver lining is that Australians will be eager to explore the parts of their own country they are yet to visit, and the legendary Outback town of Winton will no doubt be high on their wish list.”

Winton Shire Council Mayor Gavin Baskett echoed Mr Chandler’s comments and added “Winton’s Way Out West Fest has quickly become a must on the annual calendar for travellers and lovers of great music and our community is thrilled that the event will be back in 2021. We are looking forward to hosting another fantastic event and welcoming people from all around Australia. Of course, we will be following the guidance provided by governments to ensure the safety of all patrons with regard to Covid-19 however as we have not had any recorded cases to date, the Queensland Outback will be a very popular destination as restrictions are progressively lifted.”

Winton Tourism & Event Officer, John Elliott, is also optimistic and enthusiastic about the festival in 2021: “Our event has quickly established itself as a major player in the Queensland music scene and Chandler Shaw Events’ plans for 2021 will help further develop the festival.
It is a great kick-start to the tourism year in Outback Queensland.” 

Winton is already known as a unique location for a number of films and television series including Goldstone (Jacki Weaver, David Wenham and David Gulpilil),

The Proposition (Screenplay by Nick Cave and a cast that included Noah Taylor, Guy Pearce and Emily Watson) and recently, Total Control, an ABC TV series directed and starring Rachel Griffiths along with Deborah Mailman.

And as part of Winton Shire Council’s ongoing commitment to the Australian film industry, plans are under way to convert what was once a motor garage and hardware supply store into a-film studio and to again host the highly successful Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival.

Winton is also extremely proud of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils. This attraction will be a must for families, especially immediately following the Easter break and in the lead up to the festival.