From a desert run to the red dirt plains.
It started with a dad, a dune and a sunset concert for 600 people. This is how we got from there to thousands of Bashers on the Mundi Mundi Plains.
A dad, a desert and a challenge.
Festival founder Greg Donovan took on a global desert running challenge: 250km across deserts on four continents. No event like it existed in Australia, so he created one. The Big Red Run was staged in the Simpson Desert outside Birdsville, Queensland, to raise funds for Type 1 diabetes research in honour of his youngest son.
A sunset concert for 600.
John Williamson played a sunset concert on top of Big Red for the race participants. About 600 people gathered on the dune, and word spread fast.
The Birdsville Big Red Bash.
The concert grew into a two-day camping festival. By 2018 the Big Red Bash had sold out at around 10,000 people.
A second outback festival.
The idea for a second festival was born, and Broken Hill was the obvious choice. It is the unofficial outback capital of NSW and Australia's first heritage-listed city, with a rich mining history, a world-class art scene and a landscape like nowhere else.
The Mundi Mundi Plains stretch out from Belmont Station, 9km north of Silverton and 38km from Broken Hill. The Barrier Ranges shimmer on the horizon. Mad Max was filmed here. Furiosa was filmed here.
The world stops.
The pandemic cancelled everything. With 15 months suddenly free, Greg and the Outback Music Festival Group team finally had time to turn the Broken Hill dream into reality.
Sold out in little over a month.
Tickets for the first Mundi Mundi Bash went on sale in early 2021 and sold out in little over a month.
Two Bashes in one year.
After a Covid delay pushed the first event from August 2021 to April 2022, the Mundi Mundi Bash finally happened. Festival-goers danced and sang along with some of Australia's greatest performers across three nights on the red dirt. Four months later, the original August edition arrived in its natural calendar home. People had waited long enough.
6,594 people did the Nutbush.
6,594 festival-goers side-stepped in sync to Nutbush City Limits, smashing the world record set just weeks earlier at the Big Red Bash. Every dancer paid a $15 registration fee, and more than $100,000 was raised for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
A Mad Max costume gathering made history too: 359 revellers, on the very plains where the films were shot.
Best festival and event in NSW.
Another sold-out Bash. On Big Blue Day the crowd set the world record for the largest human image of a country, thousands of people on the red dirt in the shape of Australia, raising awareness for Beyond Blue.
The Bash was named Best Festival and Event in NSW at the 2024 NSW Tourism Awards, an extraordinary result for an event not yet three years old.
Gold.
For the first time, the road to Belmont Station was fully sealed. The Nutbush world record was broken for the very last time, retiring the tradition on a high. Big Blue Day set the largest human image of a country record once again. And the Bash took home Gold for Best Major Festival and Event at the NSW Tourism Awards.
"We're the new kids on the block, so to come out on top is a real honour."Greg Donovan, festival founder
The one we will never forget.
Record rainfall left almost 30% of the event site underwater, and the gates stayed closed when the festival was due to begin. Then the sun came out. Nearly three days of sunshine let the ground recover, and the full lineup played, from The Teskey Brothers and John Butler to Jessica Mauboy, Boy & Bear and Leo Sayer. Jon Stevens closed the show.
In town, artists donated their time for free pop-up gigs, and Shane Howard played four shows in a single day. On the way out, 10,000+ people and almost 4,000 vehicles left Belmont Station with waits of 0 to 1 minute.
2026 was less a story about the weather than about the people. Patrons, performers, crew, volunteers and the Broken Hill community adapted, improvised and kept the show moving. Thank you.
The seventh Bash.
19 to 21 August 2027. Same red dirt, same big sky, and you are invited. Tickets are on sale now.
Bash moments in history.
Nutbush world record6,594 people danced Nutbush City Limits in sync in 2023, smashing the world record. The tradition was retired at the 2025 Bash, going out on a high.
Largest human image of a countryIn 2025, more than 9,000 Bashers stood on the red dirt, shoulder to shoulder, in the shape of their country to raise awareness for mental health and funds for Beyond Blue.
Mad Max gathering359 Mad Max costumed revellers gathered on the plains where the franchise was actually filmed.Come and write the next chapter.
Buy ticketsTickets for the seventh Mundi Mundi Bash are on sale now.