Three years after The Canberra Times moved from Fyshwick to Civic, the old site is again coming alive. But this time to the sound of nostalgic dance music rather than the rumble of the printing press.
The Fyshwick site has now been subdivided, with one side occupied by Alto Scaffolding and the other by a company that plans to eventually demolish the old Times building to make away for a storage warehouse.
But for 10 hours on Saturday, the site in Pirie Street will be dance music central, with up to 2500 punters enjoying the likes of Sneaky Sound System, The Potbelleez, Bag Raiders and Havana Brown at The Times Music Festival.
Local company Decibel Creative is staging the festival from noon to 10pm on Saturday, organised by three directors Ben Amando, Frank Tapia and Josh Beaumont.
Two outside stages have been erected on the back former carpark of the Times. Way back when, the area for the stage used to be where the pool and tennis courts were at The Canberra Times site, later converted to a carpark. The old squash courts have survived and will now double as the green room for the performers before they go on stage.
"Decibel Creative was created after COVID," Amando said.
"We wanted to try to re-invigorate some unique places to do events in. We do stuff at EPIC, out at Thoroughbred Park, we've done stuff in the city and in alleyways.
"This is probably our biggest site that we've done that hasn't had an event before. So it's pretty exciting to be here in a famous location like the old Canberra Times space."
The Canberra Times moved its office to Civic in September, 2021 and sold the Fyshwick site after the newspaper staff had been on the site for more than three decades.
The high-profile site on the corner of Newcastle and Pirie streets piqued the interest of Decibel Creative.
"We're always thinking about events, so when we see a space we think, 'Oh, wouldn't it be good to put an event on there?' and sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't," Amando said.
"It takes a lot of effort and signing off with government etc. But when you get down to this bit, and everything is signed off, it's very rewarding."
Amando, 33, said the flavour of The Times Music Festival was about reliving "the golden era of dance music" and the aesthetic will be stripped-back industrial.
"We do a diverse range of concerts and events. We do do some younger, 18-25 demographic stuff. I'd say this one is more speaking to more nostalgic and classic dance music," he said..
"The generation is a little bit older than your 18 to 25-year-old kids but I think they also need a platform to go out and enjoy an event as well.
"Because there's been a lot of cancellations in Canberra recently and we're just trying to do little things at the moment and keep growing."
The Times Music Festival could become an annual event - depending on what happens with the site over time.
"I think if the space is still available for us to do it again, yeah, it would be really good but it's the first one and it's a good place to start," he said.
There will be three bars and some food trucks on the site. Capital Brewing is partnering with the festival. A massive light show will be created over the main stage.
"It's going to be amazing," Amando said.
