Southbound raise over $150,000 for the Waroona Fire Appeal

It's been a pretty shit week to be living in the south-west of Australia at the moment. In case you've missed it, which you probably haven't, towns including Yarloop, Waroona, Harvey, Lake Clifton and Preston Beach have been devastatingly affected by one of Western Australia's largest bushfires, which has ran rampant for over three days now. Aside from the obvious devastation in Yarloop and it's surrounds, the fire has indirectly affected many non-locals, with many supermarkets not being replenished with milk and meat (Harvey is the center of West Australia's dairy market) and the annual Southbound Festival in Busselton being cancelled last-minute (which in retrospect, are pretty small problems considering the loss of life and property experienced down south). The video below, filmed by ABC, pretty much sums up the massive devastation the fire has caused.

Doom and gloom aside, the legends at Southbound didn't grind to a halt and point blame like a certain other Australian festival promoter, but instead held a massive fundraiser party at HBF Stadium, which saw headliners Bloc Party and Disclosure perform to a sold-out crowd alongside Birds of Tokyo, San Cisco, Koi Child and DJ sets by Django Django and Oh Wonder. They've since confirmed that the event has raised at least $150,000, which is something pretty damn spectacular. They've also donated all merch proceeds to the cause, donated over 2,300 meals that were meant to feed the punters at the festival, kept open the festival grounds and it's facilities for emergency service crew and anyone directly affected by the fire and once the time for refunds to come around, are allowing ticket-holders to donate all or part of their refund to the Lord Mayor's Distress Relief Fund, set up just for the fires.

They're not the only ones partying for charity, on Saturday night our own Jack Rabbit Slim's opened to the public for a special fundraiser show, which saw Southbound acts Foals (DJ set), Disclosure, Young Fathers, Koi Child, Loston, Verge Collection and your local Pilerats DJs party for charity - raising another $15,935 that has been donated to the Red Cross. Charity gigs have also popped up down south, with local beatsmiths and DJs including Palace and Boston Switch running a bunch of shows that raised almost $11,000 as well. You can donate to the Lord Mayor's Distress Relief Fund, which will all be going to the victims of the Waroona fire, HERE.

Special shoutout to all the following companies who helped make it happen: AEG Ogden, Audio Technic, Coca Cola Amatil, Concert and Corporate Productions, Direct Brand Distributors, Go West Tours, HOBAN Recruitment, Lounge Backline, Perth Ice Works, Quayclean, Radlink, St John Ambulance, Sea Containers Perth, Spotless, Ticketmaster and Ultimo Catering

A number of Southbound patrons have shown incredible generosity at this time wanting to donate their ticket refund to those affected by the fire, you can do this or donate any nominated amount, via our friends at Moshtix if you feel inclined or to a nominated bushfire relief fund (details to follow). Information on full ticket refunds will be available by Wednesday 13th January, which will include further information on how to donate through the Moshtix platform. Also, keep your eyes peeled on Southbound's FACEBOOK page for a special silent auction, in which signed merch and other goods will be sold off with all profits going to charity.