Dust off your festival boots and program in your playlist: Groovin the Moo is once again upon us.

Featuring a line-up of some of the world’s top indie, pop and hip-hop artists, Groovin the Moo (GTM) is the biggest music event on the Townsville calendar, with staff from Townsville Airport doing their best to make sure it all runs smoothly.

More than 5000kg of band equipment belonging to 18 acts, will be flown into Townsville Airport ahead of the May 5 event, with two semi-trailers due to collect the freight for transfer to the Murray Sports Complex in Annandale.

Additional staff will be rostered on to help streamline the process, with strict bump-in and bump-out schedules set by the festival’s production company.

Steve Halpin of Cattleyard Promotions said the team was looking forward to visiting Townsville once again.

“GTM loves visiting Townsville and its beautiful surrounds,” he said.

“We thank you for hosting us in our 12th year and as always, greatly appreciate the excellent services and logistics support that Townsville Airport provides to our artists and wider team.”

The Townsville leg of the six-city GTM tour is perfectly timed, falling in the middle of the Labour Day long weekend on Sunday, May 5.

Townsville Airport Chief Operating Officer Kevin Gill, who also chairs the region’s peak tourism and economic development body Townsville Enterprise Limited, said events such as GTM were crucial to attracting visitors to the city.

“Tourism is all about the experience and festivals such as Groovin the Moo are excellent drawcards for visitors to Townsville,” he said.

“This event – which last year drew 15,000 revellers from across North Queensland and further afield from places like Mount Isa and Rockhampton – is crucial to growing our tourism industry, particularly as it attracts the key demographic of the millennials."