Sunshine Coast youth want more nightlife
Thu 03 June 2010
Kirsten Janke, Bachelor of Communication
A recent survey has revealed local Sunshine Coast youth are hungry for a simple revamp, or perhaps new addition, to the nightlife currently on offer.
The study, conducted by a University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) student and volunteer students, showed that 80 per cent of young people, including both students and non-students, surveyed said they believed the Sunshine Coast’s youth would greatly benefit from a new club, although with slightly different features.
The current and more popular nightclubs and pubs in the Mooloolaba and Maroochydore region include the Mooloolaba Pub, The Wharf Tavern, Vibes, O’Malley’s Pub, 240v and Envy.
Five out of these six hotspots are in Mooloolaba, which has proven to be a popular place for young people to socialise with friends.
Going out to a club or a pub throughout the week can be considered a standard routine for many young people aged between 18 and 25, and therefore the youth of the Sunshine Coast believe that it is important that they have somewhere safe, enjoyable and financially-friendly available to have a good night out.
One of the clubs in Mooloolaba is 240v, which regularly hosts Uni Night.
Uni Night occurs on Thursday nights, and allows students to have a night off from their studies to socialise.
Students are given the advantages of free entry and free transport from the USC student accommodation.
240v’s security guard Julian Cecil personally believes that 240v is popular for a number of reasons.
“We are the only club on the Sunshine Coast which offers both entirely free transport and entry,” Mr Cecil said.
“We have two 22-seater buses used to give the students free transport, and on top of that and the free entry, we also offer $2 beer pots and reduced basic spirits.”
240v has significant competition on Uni Nights, with the opening of the relatively new fellow club Envy which also offers free transport and a cheap entry fee.
However, Mr Cecil believes that 240v triumphs over other night spots mainly because of the cheap offers, larger capacity and location.
Mr Cecil said 240v is situated right next to the beach and shops, and is also closer to student accommodation than Envy is.
Mr Cecil believes another contributing factor is the $2 cover charge at Envy, whereas 240v offers entirely free entry to students.
Regardless of the success 240v enjoys, there is speculation as to whether clubs like 240v and Envy are offering what students want.
Sunshine Coast resident Carolyn Anderson, 18, believes that the nightlife on the Sunshine Coast is becoming “stale”.
“The Sunshine Coast’s current clubs are unoriginal,” Miss Anderson said.
“There is nothing new and exciting, and you tend to go to the same place and see the same people out. the nightlife basically needs a revival.”
It appears that Miss Anderson is not alone in this opinion, as the survey revealed that a large number of young people also felt this way.
Miss Anderson currently works at the Innovation Centre at USC as a second-year graphic designer for a company called Schoolzine, and regularly partakes of the night club scene.
Miss Anderson enjoys going out because she feels it’s a reward for studying for the majority of the week, and believes the most popular clubs are 240v on a Thursday night and Mooloolaba Wharf Tavern on a Saturday night.
Miss Anderson believes that these two are popular for a number of reasons.
“240v is good because it’s cheap for students and has good music, and also the Tavern incorporates live music, a club and a gaming section, which no other place offers,” Miss Anderson said.
There are a number of reasons why a new club would not be ideal, the main concern being the tourism appeal of the Sunshine Coast.
It appears that adding more clubs to the Coast may tarnish its desired healthy, family-orientated reputation.
Students suggested in the survey that perhaps the solution would not be to create a new nightclub, but rather to simply revamp the current nightlife.
The survey also found that students not only had particular views on why they wanted a new club, but also what type of club they wanted, with 60 per cent of participants preferring a dance club with modern music over a club offering live music and a more relaxed atmosphere.
Some stated that the latter would be more suited to an older generation, and reasons for a “dance” club included better music for dancing and more opportunities for meeting new people in the same demographic category.
They also reasoned that a an updated nightlife scene would encourage more young people to socialise in a safe and enjoyable manner with the wide range of people living in the Sunshine Coast area, rather than seeing the same people out every week.
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