Sidney Myer Music Bowl
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| Location | Kings Domain, Melbourne |
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| Coordinates | 37°49′24″S 144°58′28″E / 37.82329°S 144.974454°ECoordinates: 37°49′24″S 144°58′28″E / 37.82329°S 144.974454°E |
| Owner | Victorian Government |
| Operator | the Arts Centre |
| Capacity | Up to 10,000 (2,030 fixed seats) |
| Surface | Concrete, Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1958 |
| Opened | 1959 |
| Architect | Barry Patten |
| Tenants | |
| Carols by Candlelight Raggamuffin Music Festival | |
| Website | |
| [1] | |
The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an outdoor performance venue in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the lawns and gardens of Kings Domain, Linlithgow Ave, Melbourne, close to the Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment precinct. It was officially opened by Prime Minister Robert Menzies on 12 February 1959, with an audience of 30,000 people, and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
The businessman and philanthropist, Sidney Myer, inspired the construction of the building, after attending the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. A violinist who enjoyed music, Sidney Myer established free, open-air concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1929, which were always well attended by Melburnians. These free concerts continue to this day, now being held at the bowl itself. There are usually three or four concerts a year.
Upon his death in 1934, the Sidney Myer Fund was established to continue the tradition of philanthropy begun by its founder. The design and construction of a music bowl for the people of Melbourne was decided upon and funded by the Sidney Myer Fund.
The venue was officially opened by Prime Minister Robert Menzies on 12 February 1959, and was attended by an audience of 30,000. Later that month over 70,000 people attended to hear the American evangelist, Billy Graham. The largest crowd ever for a concert event in Australia was the 1967 Seekers homecoming concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl which an estimated 200,000 people attended. The 2007 Guinness Book of World Records lists it as the greatest attendance at a concert in the Southern Hemisphere in history. This attendance is also included in The Australian Book Of Records. Melburnians were celebrating the annual Moomba Festival, a free community festival, and many thousands were enjoying other attractions but are included in the crowd estimate. Since then, international performers have included: ABBA, AC/DC, Metallica, Wings, Blondie, The Beach Boys, Crowded House, Dire Straits, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Merle Haggard, Pearl Jam, Sir Paul McCartney, R.E.M., Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Daft Punk, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and most recently Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Soundgarden, Tool, Kanye West, Paramore, Neil Young, Lenny Kravitz, Swedish House Mafia, blink-182, and The Black Keys.
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