‘Nutbush’ World Record Almost Broken by Australian State

Despite the effort of close to 8,000 festival-goers attending the Mundi Mundi Bash music festival in New South Wales (NSW) on Aug. 18-20, the world record for the largest “Nutbush City Limits” dance remains with the state of Queensland.

Nearly half of the crowd, 3,720 festival-goers danced across the sprawling desert plains behind the historic mining town of Silverton to the 1973 Tina Turner soul classic, many of whom dressed in costumes inspired by the Mad Max movie franchise.

They fell painfully short of the current Nutbush World Record of 4,084 dancers set by Big Red Bash, a sister festival in Birdsville, Queensland in July.

The Nutbush is a line dance performed to Tina Turner’s song “Nutbush City Limits.” Inspired by the song, the dance emerged as “The Nutbush” in the 1970s and became popular in Australia during the 1980s. It is usually performed in schools, social gatherings, and community events.

Over 3,700 revellers took part in the Nutbush. (Courtesy of Matt Williams/Mundi Mundi Bash)

The participants’ effort via registration raised more than $55,000 for the festival’s charity partner, the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), with each person paying a $15 registration fee to dance in the event.

Including the attempt on Aug. 20, the festival has raised over $500,000 collectively for the RFDS since 2016.

” It was an amazing effort and really came down the wire,” Greg Donovan (festival owner, managing director, Outback Music Festival Group) said.

” We were close to capturing the NSW world record, but the Birdsville Big Red Bash was able to retain the title by just a slight margin .”

Jennifer Mastras, the community partnerships senior coordinator at the RFDS said almost $80,000 has already been raised so far with funds still being counted.

” While we did not break the world record, we received incredible support and raised funds to ensure that rural and remote people have access to high-quality healthcare.” she stated.

Missy Higgins performing with Peter Garrett during Midnight Oil’s headline set at the Mundi Mundi Bash. (Courtesy of Matt Williams/Mundi Mundi Bash)

Headline performers include Jimmy Barnes (Australian rock star), Kasey Chambers (country queen), and other local musicians like Russell Morris, Daryl Braithwaite and Pierce Brothers.

Earlier in the festival, Midnight Oil & Missy Higgins, cross-generational icons of Australian music, joined hands on stage. The Oils’ Mundi Mundi bash performance was one of the last for Australian fans before they retire.