SeaCliff team launches first event on back of grant win
The Coast the Coast Festival will launch the new SeaCliff Coast District in the Northern Illawarra, writes Jamie Madden of Wombarra Bowlo
I’ve lost count of the number of friends from Sydney who've told me they had no idea our little stretch of coast existed, until they visited. But they know Wollongong, Berry and Kiama. So you don’t need to be Dr Karl to deduce that many people heading south stick to the motorway and bypass the far Northern suburbs altogether. Fine for some of us but … for local businesses in the colder, slower months, that’s a real problem.
All of us who live here know the area is special, squeezed between the escarpment and the ocean, it’s the perfect microclimate for culture, food, music and fun. However, our location is not easily described. Um… it’s north of Thirroul, um… it’s just south of the Royal National Park — which, if you're from Sydney, means absolutely nothing to you.
Thankfully, with the help of a new grant from the NSW Government's Uptown Program, the Northern Illawarra Chamber of Commerce is about to change this for good.
Over the past few months I’ve been working with the chamber and participating venues from Coalcliff to Austinmer to develop our unique identity — yes, the Bowlo guy is now a destination brand strategist!
Thankfully, we all got along famously and consensus came quickly and was beautifully simple: The SeaCliff Coast.
Best explained by the term “it says what it is on the box”.
It’s a cliff, it’s the sea, it’s the coast, unforgettable … and to add to the mix, it leverages the astonishing recognition of the Sea Cliff Bridge — the only Wollongong roadwork project that’s turned into a massive tourist attraction, unless you count the Towradgi Hump (look it up), or that pothole outside the Scarborough Hotel.
To launch SeaCliff Coast we're “activating” — not almonds, but the venues in the area. Coast the Coast is a roam-able spring mini festival over the weekend of 11-13 September. That weekend, seven much-loved local venues are working together for the first time to light up the strip, each hosting up to three activations.
I’ve seen the program and it's full of surprises: wild food events at Earthwalker & Co, a contemporary drawing class at the Imperial, a vintage market and a monster meat raffle (no self-respecting bowls club has ever launched anything without one) and — yes — a rodeo at the Scarborough Hotel, because nothing says ‘seaside spring festival’ like line dancing and a pig on a spit, boom!
And great music is ever present on the SeaCliff Coast Spring Tide Reggae Fest with Garfish and Drop Legs at the Coledale RSL and catch the region’s best songstresses at Sirens of the SeaCliff Coast—with Elana Stone, Kay Proudlove and Flanellette band at the Wombarra Bowlo.
But wait up, did someone say “Traffic!”
As anyone who lives here knows, traffic and parking are always top of mind, and top of the Thirroul Living Facebook feed! So, to avoid being endlessly trolled by Karens and Kevins (sorry to Karen and Kevin, my lovely neighbours), we've thought ahead and designed Coast the Coast around alternative forms of transport.
The silver stretch limo (aka the train) stops close-ish to all venues, and the Grand Pacific Walk (aka the footpath) keeps getting better. So, we're encouraging people to walk, ride a bike, catch the train, skateboard, paddle, pogo stick, whatever, between events, and we’re even talking to Electrify 2515 about an electric bus pilot.
Think of Coast the Coast like a roam-able, singleroad, multi-venue, multi-day mini-festival where the journey through our majestic landscape is a big part of the experience!
This event is the first of three planned annual activations, designed to build SeaCliff Coast into a destination that inspires year-round visitation.
You can help get the message out: invite your mates to stay for the 11-13 September weekend and give them a taste of the best the SeaCliff Coast has to offer.
About the writer
Jamie Madden is a designer and a director of the Scarborough Wombarra Bowling Club. He's leading the brand and marketing work behind SeaCliff Coast, developed through the Uptown Grant Program with the Northern Illawarra Chamber of Commerce.
