2025 Ord Valley Muster dates announced as organisers await crucial funding

Dates for the 2025 Boab Metals Ord Valley Muster have been released even though organisers are yet to secure crucial additional funding after this year’s festival saw ticket sales slump by up to 60 percent. Ord Valley Events chairperson Sophie Cooke said they were expecting Tourism WA to announce within weeks if they would commit an extra $200,000 in funding annually for the next five years to keep the cornerstone event of the East Kimberley alive. “The Boab Metals Ord Valley Muster has been a highlight on the Kimberley calendar for years, and we’re optimistic that with this funding, we can continue to deliver an exceptional event that showcases the best of what our region has to offer,” Ms Cooke said. Organisers have released the dates for next year’s festival, May 16- 24, however they have not booked any performers yet. “We are working on the basis that the funding will be secured but we wont be contracting any artists until it’s finalised -but that decision is imminent,” Ms Cooke said. The festival’s future is in jeopardy after the event made a loss this year following a massive drop in ticket sales for the nine-day cultural event in Kununurra which marks the beginning of the Kimberley tourism season. Ms Cooke would not disclose the extent of the financial loss but she did say general admission ticket sales for the Kimberley Moon experience were down 60 per cent on the previous year and seats for the Kimberley Fine Diamonds Dinner dropped by 33 per cent. She said they could only make assumptions as to why the events weren’t well-attended. “So we think it’s multifaceted, we had a really big wet season so potentially there was still some uncertainty about accessibility, on the back of the last couple of years we have had with COVID and the bridge collapse at Fitzroy. There is also the cost of living, household expenditure and the number of festivals and events that were cancelling last minute across the country may have spooked some people.” “We don’t have any hard and fast evidence as to what actually caused the downturn in ticket sales. But what we’re focusing on doing now is utilizing additional funds, should we secure them, to increase the promotion, increase the offering, and increase performances across all of the events.”