Broken Hill’s Mundi Mundi Bash strikes Gold at NSW Tourism Awards
Words Editorial Team Pics Matt Williams and Supplied
Australia’s biggest outback music festival, the Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash, has been awarded Gold for Major Festivals & Events at the 2025 NSW Tourism Awards.
If you’ve ever stood on the Mundi Mundi Plains at sunset — dust in your boots, dogs trotting happily past, campers humming with anticipation — you’ll know there’s something special about this place. Now the NSW Tourism Awards have made it official, handing Gold for the Major Festivals & Events category to the Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash at the gala celebration at Waterview in Sydney’s Bicentennial Park on Thursday 27 November 2025.
Not bad for a festival that, if it were a person, would have only been starting primary school this year.
A meteoric rise on the red dirt
For an event not yet five years old, taking top spot over long-running giants such as the Deni Ute Muster (Silver) and Bluesfest Byron Bay (Bronze) is one mighty achievement.
Festival founder and Outback Music Festival Group managing director Greg Donovan summed it up with equal parts pride and disbelief.
“We’re thrilled to receive this Gold Award. We’re the new kids on the block in terms of how long we’ve been around — so to come out on top is a real honour,” Donovan said.“It feels like only yesterday that we stood in a remote, red dirt goat paddock on the beautiful Mundi Mundi Plains with Kate Ceberano and key tourism officials to share our vision and officially launch the event — and now here we are with gold-medal recognition. It feels a little surreal.”
He didn’t forget the heart and soul of the event either, saying, “None of this would be possible without our incredible team, our hardworking volunteers and every Basher who’s been with us since the early days. Thank you from the bottom of our dusty boots. You’re the reason we’re able to keep doing what we do and bringing people together in one of Australia’s most unique festival settings.”
What’s coming: a stacked 2026 lineup
Set on the iconic saltbush flats just north of Silverton, where the horizon seems to stretch its legs, the 2026 Mundi Mundi Bash will roll out a lineup crammed with Australian music royalty:
The Teskey Brothers, Jon Stevens, John Butler, Boy & Bear, Baby Animals, Jessica Mauboy, The Whitlams, Leo Sayer, Tim Finn, Richard Clapton, Troy Cassar-Daley, Chocolate Starfish, Furnace and the Fundamentals, Wendy Matthews, The Radiators, Shane Howard, Fanny Lumsden, 19-Twenty, 50 Years of Fleetwood Mac, Hot Potato Band, Tom Busby and Wes Carr.
That’s a who’s-who of Aussie touring history — all playing on a remote desert stage where the nearest ‘green room’ is a swathe of silver-gold plains.
Hoodoo Gurus (Credit: Matt Williams)
More than music: the outback’s quirkiest playground
Across three days from 20–22 August 2026, the Mundi Mundi Bash blends big-name sets with the kind of eccentric outback fun you just can’t fake:
Charity fun runs
Camel rides
Comedy sessions
Outdoor cinema
And, of course, the world-record antics that have become part of Bash folklore. With the famous Nutbush dance-off now retired, organisers are working on a brand-new crowd activity. Expect it to be big, dusty and very, very Bash.
The expected turnout? Close to 15,000 people, including families, grey nomads, four-wheel drivers and first-time Bashers. Oh, and it’s camping-based, all-ages and dog-friendly.
Tickets already moving fast
Despite tickets only being on sale for a month, demand is racing ahead. Organisers are quietly confident another full house is on the cards.
(Credit: Matt Williams)
If you’re planning to camp, convoy or roll in with the caravan, do yourself a favour and lock it in early. For more info and tickets, click here.
Maps to get you there in 2026
Missy Higgins (Credit: Matt Williams)
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