By Mara Pattison-Sowden
HEALESVILLE’S racecourse rocked on Saturday with the first Music at the Track.
More than 1000 people spread their picnic rugs for an afternoon of acts from well-known and up-and-coming talented artists.
Bonnie Anderson kicked the day off on the main stage, Shane Howard and David Knight took the audience through the afternoon and Jeff Lang rounded the night out.
Artists including Steve Eales, Tinpan Orange, the Dukes of Despair and Mick Thomas also performed.
Event organiser Chris Young said they got a lot of great feedback from the artists, who all enjoyed themselves.
“They really commented on the professionalism and said it put a lot of the larger festivals to shame,” he said.
“The live and local stage went really well, we could see by the crowd they had around them. It was very well received.”
Mr Young said for a first-time event they got 98 per cent of things right, and “next year we’ll aim for 100 per cent.”
Around 500 people responded to the festival survey, and Mr Young said two people thought the music was a bit loud early on.
“But 498 reckoned it was perfect, so I think the odds were in our favour,” he said.
Mr Young said there was a strong Melbourne crowd who followed the likes of Damien Howard, Mick Thomas and Shane Howard.
“More than half the audience was local, and there was no doubt the coverage from Mountain Views raised our profile and got the locals along,” he said.
“A lot was said about the acts, people were amazed at the quality and didn’t realise there was that sort of talent around the local areas.”
