On Saturday from noon, the 4^th Stanmore Music Festival rang out in the streets, schools, the library park and the Salisbury pub until 10pm. This year a record 77 acts involving more than 1000 participants took part. Choirs swelled that number. Some 165 acts had applied for the 35 minute performance spots available on 11 stages. Like the three other previous festivals, over 40 volunteers worked across the day and earlier, setting up tents, chairs, banners and stage managing, after earlier programming the event, designing the website and a multitude of other tasks.

Police estimated the 2019 crowd across the day at 5000. This year’s looked comparable.

I and photographer neighbour Tony Egan directed the first two festivals in 2019 and 2022. Covid caused a two year pause in 2020-2021,with the third held in November 2023, directed by a volunteer stalwart Jan McClelland, who also steered this year’s event.

The Stanmore Music Festival was modelled on the French Fête de la Musique, held on the June 21 summer solstice across France for 42 years since 1982.  Today the festival is held in 700 cites in 120 countries. We initially dubbed it the St. Anmoré (pronounced St. Ann-more-ray) music festival as an affectionate nod to its French inspiration.

We’d lived in Lyon in 2006 and one evening we stepped out into our street leading down to Lyon’s old town and unknowingly walked into the Fête in full swing. We’d not even heard of it, but it was unforgettable. Just quite stunning. I remember seeing Django Reinhardt trios, Malian kora players, jazz bands, string quartets, rappers … every kind of music. It was fantastically festive, communal and participatory. Families, friends and workmates circled performers, along with thousands of local residents till late into the evening.

Our local friends told us that while big name acts occasionally appeared on a main stage – always free of charge —  the overwhelming  emphasis was on musical performances by local residents: people who did not make a living from their music, but who just loved performing. One said to me “You’d be amazed about the extraordinary talent you find living behind many ordinary front doors – former professional musicians, immigrants bringing rich cultural musical traditions from their home country, young prodigies, choir members, instrumentalists whose music has been mostly private but who are very impressive and bathroom baritones and sopranos.”

Years later back in Sydney, I sensed our suburb suffered from a rather anodyne reputation compared to our surrounds. Wedged between Sydney’s Portuguese and Italian quarters (Petersham and Leichhardt) and adjacent to the inner west’s hipster trifecta of Newtown, Enmore and Marrickville, poor old Stanmore needed something to loosen it up a bit.

I approached nearby neighbour, conductor and musical educator Richard Gill about an approach to the local Inner West council for support. Richard and his family had lived in Dijon and needed no persuading it was a good idea to try and have a French-style festival. After some bureaucratic stonewalling by the old Marrickville Council, Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne backed the concept.  Sadly Richard died before he could see the Festival launch. It’s now been anointed as an annual festival in the Inner West’s cultural calendar.

A truly community festival

Most music festivals are commercially driven with professional acts attracting crowds. Performance fees are paid via ticketing, merchandising and catering. Pubs and other music venues also often have ticketed entry to pay musicians. The next step down are suburban non-ticketed music events where outside food and drink vendors pay big money for catering rights to local governments and deep-pocketed corporations pay sponsorships in return for publicity and promotional opportunities. A limited number of performers are generally paid.

Stanmore is different. It is free to all and no performers are paid, in keeping with the communal philosophy of the event. We always explain the communal objectives to applicant performers. It was a vision that drove Richard Gill, to whom we dedicated the Festival. Richard worked for decades with the cream of Australian classical and choral musicians. But it was his work with inspiring children and their musical educators from which he never strayed. One of our selection criteria is whether a performer or group had any connection with Richard. A surprising number do.

At the second festival, we received a curt “no thanks” when we approached a well-known inner west band. We were told that no other occupation group is ever expected to provide their services free and that our festival risked publicising amateur acts who were prepared to play for nothing. Pubs and cafes might decide this was a better deal for them than paying full professional fees to performers. So they declined, clearly letting us know they disapproved of the whole thing.

We replied that we fully agreed that professional musicians needed to be paid particularly when people were profiting from the crowd they pulled, but were they seriously arguing that eight choirs, each with 15-50 members should only be able to perform in public for 25 minutes if each and every member was paid full professional fees? Or that a 14 year old guitarist, a local folkloric dance group, a dad-band playing rock covers, a group of young high school jazz students or an accordionist playing Italian folk tunes should all stay out of public performance until they decided to go professional?

Dog Trumpet, legends in the Inner West, played for free at the pub at the first festival. When we sent a questionnaire to all performers asking for 3 good points and 3 “need to fix” suggestions, their Peter O’Doherty wrote back that they had enjoyed the vibe so much, they would be happy to even play in the pub toilet the next year.

The Stanmore festival zone is not fenced off, outside food carts are banned and moved on by the Inner West Council if they turn up (as are those trying to selling any merchandise or services). Local cafes and delicatessens and school parents’ BBQs and food stalls instead reap all the catering income. Several of these local businesses donate raffle prizes at two fund raisers. Including the 18 out of maximum 19 hatted SixPenny restaurant.

My highlights

This year I did a 3 hour stage managing shift in the pub, time-keeping and introducing four bands. One, the House of Monkeys, played as school kids at the first festival and at all three since. I’ve watched them change lineups and grow in both confidence and chutzpah. They played some standard covers well like Beds are burning and Nutbush, but just blitzed the Rolling Stones’ peerless Can you hear me knockin’ with its unmistakable open tuned G power riff that has had millions of people rise to their feet on hearing it since it was released in 1971 on Sticky Fingers.    Last time I saw them play, their savant guitarist Jack Covell, was too young to order a beer.  Here he is at 16. Now here he was leading them through this demanding piece, joined beautifully by a young sax player for the long solo.

Another, Amy and the Grey Zone had a singer with a voice you’d cross the country to hear. Her whole family watched on proudly while the room swayed to their sound.

A third, Redundant Technology came off stage after a blistering set. I commented on how well the guitar and bass worked together “we should do .. . we’ve been playing together since the 80s!” said  Simon Ward, the guitarist. A little community within our community that day.

I saw the sublime Inner West Voices open with Judy Collins’ Both Sides Now, local veteran icon George Washingmachine, and a performance from the local Flamenco School.

At 4.20pm, one of our volunteers overheard  someone say “It’s got a lot of community with a capital C”.  A stranger told me in the park today that he could never imagine Stanmore without the festival. It’s here for keeps. 

Only 12 months till the 2025 return.

Thanks especially to Jan McClelland,  Phil Goldstein, Rebecca-Camille Niumeitolum, Ray Schembri, Tony Egan and Matt Crane and all the other volunteers.

My grand daughter Florence sings at the inaugural festival, 2019. Photo credit: Tony Egan