No longer a Sensation

By Alison Kinkade

Docklands may seem a little quieter this New Years Eve with Etihad Stadium announcing that it has decided to discontinue Sensation.

The international dance event, which broke the world record for attendance in its debut year in 2008 with 40,000 party-goers, has been deemed too costly.

Etihad Stadium’s communications manager, Bill Lane, said the stadium and the Sensation company had come to a mutual agreement that they would not proceed with the event this year.

Mr Lane said the event had been very entertaining and exciting for Melbourne but they had to weigh up the cost.

“We had to weigh up the cost of bringing the event from Europe, with the revenue returned and consequently it has been decided not to proceed this year,” Mr Lane said.

Mr Lane did not say whether another event would be replacing Sensation, but said the stadium had a number of events booked for later in the year including Bon Jovi and a concert celebrating 150 years of the Melbourne Cup.

“We liaise constantly with promoters and scour the globe looking for acts, which provide a good fit for the stadium and Melbourne, and these two events further illustrate this.”

Sensation 2008 was voted Victoria’s  No.1 festival/event in the Sony In The Mix awards and was the first Sensation staged in the southern hemisphere.