Crank it Up Batemans Bay

18/04/2026

Today we celebrate the life of a man who touched many hearts in our wonderful extended family.

There are so many amazing stories to share about Richard but ours is the beautiful welcome into the dance community. Both Richard and Margaret took us in under their wings and introduced us to so many people, encouraging us to attend events and ultimately supported our crazy idea to create Crank It Up.

Here is one of our favourite pics when they invited us to our first festival at the Sydney Rock N Roll markets at the Manning Bar. ❤️❤️❤️

Let’s fill the comments with your favourite pics of Richard

13/04/2026

We don’t normally post about personal things on this Crank It Up page, but our good friends (who also happen to be the owners of the coolest old truck, which is our stage for Crank It Up) tied the knot today in Wollongong.
Congratulations to Lance & Lenni Isedale… an amazing couple and an honorary part of the Cranky Crew
Cool Bananas 🤙

12/04/2026

We haven’t announced any bands yet… but we are sitting on some exciting announcements. 🔥

While we’re planning CIU '26 at home, a couple of the Cranky Crew, Josh & Krystle, are over at Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend soaking up some seriously good music.

Safe to say… we’re just a little bit jealous. We had such a great time last year.

Now here’s where it gets good…

Straight off the stage at Viva, The Go Getters (Sweden) have just torn the place apart and Peter Sandberg wrapped up their set with a pretty exciting announcement…

👉 Click the video to hear it for yourself.

10/03/2026

The Crank It Up team had a great weekend in Fremantle and Perth as we were nominated for the Australian Tourism award for best Festival under 50k guests. While we didn’t win gold, we still had a blast in the west.
We also took the opportunity to catch some music at Fremantle H***y Tonk Bar, and had an awesome night at The Mustang Bar with Rusty Pinto and the Upsetters. Amazing musician and right up there with the best blues, roots, rockabilly artists in the world.

In the meantime, we have a HUUUUGE announcement coming in the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled on our page.

04/02/2026

It is almost surreal to see our festival sitting alongside these amazing events as a finalist at the Australian Tourism Industry Council awards.

We are sure there are many things that make a festival great but for us, Crank It Up is about the people and the vibe they create.

The musicians, the staging crew, the car community, the dance community, the stall holders, our sponsors, old friends, new friends and the feeling that everyone is welcome …. is the heartbeat of Crank It Up.

Thank you to everyone who shared our vision and joined us along the way. Just to see a rockabilly festival as a finalist makes us wanna do a little dance!

🎊 Meet the 2025 finalists for Festivals & Events, proudly sponsored by Localis 🎟️🎨These festivals, events and exhibitions bring destinations to life at a local level, creating meaningful connections, driving visitation and celebrating the stories that make each place unique ✨📍

⭐ Abbey Medieval Festival
⭐ Bicheno Beams
⭐ Crank it Up Batemans Bay
⭐ Darwin Comedy Festival 2025 (AANT Centre - Darwin's Premier Live Entertainment Venue)
⭐ Island Whales
⭐ Murrumbateman Field Days
⭐ Streaky Sounds
⭐ Subi Blooms X Gather (See Subiaco)

23/01/2026

🔥 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄 🔥

Crank It Up Batemans Bay is locked in for
🎸 𝟏𝟗–𝟐𝟐 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

Lock it in, spread the word — and most importantly, book your accommodation 𝐍𝐎𝐖. Batemans Bay fills fast that weekend, and we don’t want anyone missing out.

A full weekend of raw rock ’n’ roll, rockabilly and jump swing, classic cars, dancing, markets and that laid-back riverside energy that keeps people coming back year after year.

🏨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
The accommodation providers below support Crank It Up by helping house our performers. Please show them some love and book with these legends first 👇

🏨Big 4 Easts Riverside Holiday Park
🏡 NRMA Batemans Bay Holiday Resort
🛏️ Big 4 Nelligen Holiday Park
🌊 Corrigans Cove Resort
🏨 Lincoln Downs Resort
🏡 Clyde View Holiday Park
🛏️ Batemans Bay Lodge
🌊 Mariners on the Waterfront
🏨 Zorba Waterfront Motel

👉 Save the date
👉 Book your stay
👉 Subscribe to the newsletter for first announcements www.crankitupbatemansbay.com

Where are you staying?

21/01/2026

Well,,,, it's time to start Cranking things up again....

2025 was a huge year for Crank It Up and to be honest, we weren’t even sure if we had enough gas in the tank to do it all again — but the overwhelming support, feedback, and love for the event absolutely blew us away.

Because of you, we’re excited to say that 2026 will be Year 5 of Crank It Up Batemans Bay 🎉

And now for the announcement you’ve all been waiting for…oh, wait, you need to check your inbox for the date drop. If you aren't a subscriber, you will need to check back Friday.

In your newsletter you will find links to our accommodation partners so you can get in early.

The accommodation providers listed are event supporters and provide rooms for the performers during our festival... show them some love and book with these guys first!

The Cranky Team have already started initial programming for 2026. We’re taking on board the feedback from last year and will continue to refine and improve the event so our awesome visitors enjoy an even better experience year after year.

Now… if you haven’t already, check out the Crank It Up 2025 video wrap

Can you spot yourself, your car, or your favourite band? What incredible memories… and even more to be made this year.

Crank It up 2025 - another awesome Rockabilly event, brining out the best music, cars, dancers and community.8500 visitors cant be wrong! With 14 bands, incl...

08/01/2026

📦 Shirt and event update! 📦

The extra festival and entrant shirts that so many of you jumped on have arrived today and are officially on their way 🙌

Every single one was hand-packed by our Rubenesque crew and sent out with love — thank you for the overwhelming support. Selling out completely this year still blows our minds.

Now it’s back to the not-so-glamorous (but very important) side of festivals…
✔️ Finalising our post-event report for funding partners
✔️ Completing grant acquittals
✔️ And yep… starting to plan Crank It Up 2026 😎

We’ve already narrowed down our date options, so if you want to be the first to know when we lock it in 👉 make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter.

Jump on the website and sign up now so you don’t forget.

Big things are already rolling 💥

Thank you for cranking it up with us

29/11/2025

Time for a very important shout-out to a very special silent partner of Crank It Up…
Our mate Glenn Cotter

The next few posts of ours will be sharing Glenns amazing work...

Glenn has been volunteering with us since day one, capturing the true heart and character of Crank It Up through his incredible photos. Plenty of people take pictures, but it takes someone special to capture the soul — the people, the cars, the bands, and the vibe of our little town of Batemans Bay.

Not only is he an extraordinary photographer… he’s just a damn good human. Loved by everyone (we’re still not sure why… he just is!). Glenn also uses his voice to support mental health and RUOK, always ready to help or listen to anyone who needs a hand.

He's currently posting all the pics he snapped at Crank It Up 2025 — so as you scroll through shots of yourself, your favourite ride or band, take a moment to appreciate the man behind the lens who was right there in the moment, capturing memories for us all.

If you see yourself in any of these pics, give a comment and shoutout to Glenn.

Cheers to you, Glenn Cotter.
Next time we catch up, the beer is on us.
Lots of love,
The Cranky Crew ❤️📸🍻

28/11/2025

𝗼𝗵𝗵𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗵… 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗜𝗧! 🏆✨ 𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗦𝗪 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 (𝗙𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘀 & 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀)!

Hand on heart: we don’t run this festival for trophies. We do it for the 𝙆𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢 𝙆𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮...... the raw, welcoming, passionate community that turns a weekend by the river into something that can only be described as feel good vibes. 🖤

Crank It Up is just a name. The vibe is you
🚗 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙨 & 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨
🎸 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 & 𝘿𝙅𝙨
💃🕺 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙨
🧵 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 & 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙚-𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨
🛍️ 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨
🔊 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 & 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙬
🎵 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙖𝙮

This one’s for our friends and family, our sponsors, our tireless volunteers, and the Eurobodalla community who didn't know what Rockabilly was but still pitched in and helped grow it into a weekend people can't wait to do again. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙪𝙨.

Here’s to more music, more chrome, more memories on the foreshore. 🔥 Shhh, don't tell Chris I wrote that.

Congratulations to the amazing Narooma Oyster Festival who won the silver (join them in May) and also to who took home Silver in the New Business category - such a great outcome for Eurobodalla - South Coast NSW.

26/11/2025

Last day to get your orders in!

Don’t miss out twice!

23/11/2025

📣 We Want to Hear From You!

Crank It Up 2025 was our biggest and boldest year yet — and now we’re already looking ahead to 2026. ( Sorry..too soon Chris?)

To help us make the festival even better, we’d love your feedback. Whether you visited for the cars, the music, the dancing, the atmosphere, or the whole weekend experience, your voice helps shape the future of Crank It Up.

It also gives us the essential data we need for sponsorships and grants so we can keep delivering a mostly free, community-driven festival for everyone to enjoy.

👉 Share your thoughts in our short 3–4 minute survey:

https://crankitupbatemansbay.com/survey-2025/

Thank you for being part of the Crank It Up family — your support keeps the engines running and the music playing! 🎸🚗🔥

Chris said we need 300 surveys to commit to 2026. Let’s keep him to his word.