The Wanderer Festival has been an outstanding success and will become an annual event to attract visitors to the Sapphire Coast during the shoulder season.
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For festival organiser Simon Daly, the three-day event fulfilled his vision of a family-friendly festival that showcased the artistic talent and unique produce of the region and was so integrated into the community.
"It is a model that I had envisioned could happen and it feels like that is what has happened," he said.
He said it will "absolutely" become an annual event.
"So much work went into it and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
"I am really looking forward to sitting down with Destination NSW and working out how to take things from here."
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Of the 8,000 tickets that were sold, 55 percent went to people north of Batemans Bay and west of the Snowy Mountains.
People came from as far away as Queensland and South Australia, plus Canberra, metropolitan Sydney and to the north.
"It feels like we have really hit the markers that Destination NSW wanted.
"You couldn't get a bed in Merimbula and Eden was filling up really quickly and that was Year 1."
He said there weren't any problems and he was thrilled how it came together particularly when "17 weeks ago Wanderer didn't even exist".
"Any tweaks come from it not being born 17 weeks ago," Mr Daly said.
He said the venue, Pambula's sporting complex, worked really well, with the forest backdrop "celebrating this part of the coast.
"It was a really easy venue to work with and easier than what Plan A was for sure."
Benefits the whole region
Mr Daly said he valued the national coverage in the lead up to the festival.
"Just that alone, putting Pambula Beach and the Sapphire Coast on the map, how do you measure that?"
"That is so significant and as the story of the Wanderer grows that media will only get stronger."
He also sees growth through the number of young festival patrons who will now regularly visit the area in the years to come.
Rhys Treloar, tourism manager of Sapphire Coast Destination Marketing, said he had heard anecdotally that people were extending their stays after the festival ended on Sunday night.
"That is where the major benefit is going to be - people visiting not just for the festival," Mr Treloar said.
"It was a really good showcase for the Sapphire Coast given they incorporated so many local artists, local vendors and local produce.
"I think it has been a huge success. We couldn't be happier," he said.
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