Pix by Matt Williams
The dust has settled and spirits are high as the Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash has once again danced its way into the record books. In a truly epic display of outback spirit and community, 6,248 festival-goers gathered to break the world record for the most people doing a Freeze Frame Dance, smashing the previous record of 2,754, set at the Birdsville Big Red Bash in July.
The event was nothing short of spectacular, with thousands of costume-clad Bashers creating a sea of colour and joy on the iconic outback plains, from dinosaurs to Disney princesses.
The Bashers also attempted to break the record for the most people doing the Nutbush Dance. While the bootscooters fell just shy of the existing record of 6,594 boot-scooters set at last year’s Mundi Mundi Bash, the 6,515 tickets sold for the event still raised an outstanding $97,725 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
The Nutbush City Limits dance—a fan favourite at both the Mundi Mundi Bash and Birdsville Big Red Bash—is a uniquely Australian phenomenon that epitomises the wacky and wonderful Aussie outback spirit, making it the perfect fit for this true blue celebration of music and mateship.
The Nutbush and Freeze Frame dances are not just about fun and games—they are serious matches in the ongoing “State of Original” dance battle between Queensland and New South Wales. Bragging rights for both records now sit with New South Wales, alongside the record for most people making the shape of a country, set at Big Blue Day on day 1 of the 2024 Mundi Mundi Bash.
The Nutbush was followed by an iconic Mad Max Record Attempt, which saw 298 War Boys, Feral Kids, Dementus’, and Max Rockatanskys gather to attempt the world record for the most Mad Max characters gathered in one place. While they fell short of the record of 556 participants set at the 2022 Mundi Mundi Bash, the event still brought a taste of Hollywood to the outback.
The record attempt holds extra significance this year, with the recently released blockbuster Furiosa filmed on Belmont Station in 2023. Director George Miller AO and his crew moved into the Mundi Mundi Bash site and utilised a lot of the infrastructure the Bash has brought to an otherwise remote location.
Both the Mad Max Record Attempt and Nutbush Record Attempt honour the late rock n roll queen, Tina Turner, whose iconic performance as Aunty Entity in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was honoured by many festival attendees.
