THE ANNUAL ORGAN FESTIVAL

The AMOS Annual Organ Festivals bring together members and enthusiasts for a weekend of music and fun. Always held at an interesting location, they attract members from overseas and several states within Australia. Members bring along a variety of organs and related items, including large trailer mounted instruments, smaller hand cranked organs (often home built) & ancilliaries such as punching machines.

The 18th Annual Rally was in October 2011 at Horsham in Victoria. The venue was the local Botanic Gardens during the annual Spring festival. We made use of the electric barbecues for the Friday evening get together. Photos of the event appear in the photo gallery.

The 2013 rally was held at Campbelltown, NSW, on the 11th. 12th and 13th October 2013. The venue was the Campbelltown Steam and Machinery Museum. A selection of photos of the event appear in the photo gallery.
A highlight of the Campbelltown rally was a visit to Craig Robson's museum of antique automatic musical instruments at St.Peter's in Sydney. Craig's collection is truly amazing, it features a carousel and showman's steam engine plus a plethora of fairground and dance hall organs including the mighty "Taj Mahal" (see photo at the bottom of the page).

The 2014 rally was held at Bathurst in the grounds of the well established miniature passenger carrying railway, with the usual Friday evening barbeque at our motel, an Annual Dinner & AGM on the Saturday evening, and a singalong at a local Chinese restaurant on the Sunday evening. A highlight was a visit to the rally organiser's hangar at Bathurst airport, from which several members enjoyed flights in a light aircraft around the district.

The 2015 Rally was held in Horsham, Victoria, the dates being 10-11 October 2015. What a great event this was, with a laid back atmosphere and an excellent motel. The Friday BBQ went well, everything at the Park on the Saturday & Sunday was a success, and the Saturday night AGM meal was one of the best ever! A final meal on the Sunday night was another highlight. New friends were there, whilst one or two were missing - part of the evolution of this successful Club.

The 2016 Rally was held at the popular venue of Corowa, a great town on the Murray river. Home of several AMOS members, we had a fantastic time, having largely avoided the enormous rainfall of the previous week. A BBQ at the President's home was a great start on the Friday, followed by playing our instruments in Rutherglen on the Saturday, and in the Corowa Park carpark amongst market stalls on the Sunday. A harmonious & pleasurable experience with both new an old members enjoying a relaxing time.

The 2017 Rally was held in Beechworth in Victoria on the weekend of Saturday 30th September and Sunday 1st October 2017. This very popular town is awash with historic buildings and a "Government Precinct" consisting of a Courthouse, Police Station etc. as well as being a gourmet food destination. It was a terrific venue to see our mechanical musical instruments in full cry!. As always, for members the event kicked off on the Friday with an evening BBQ, foolowed by playing on the street for 2 days. The town really appreciated our visit and I think we all had a wonderful time.

The 2018 Rally was held in Wagga Wagga on the weekend of Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st October 2018 in the local gardens. We had been there before and it was a delightful venue well suited to the display of mechanical musical instruments. The usual BBQ, annual dinner, AGM and other functions for members were held over the weekend. Members enjoyed a ride on the extensive miniature railway on the Sunday

The 2019 Rally was held in Numurkah, a town of 5000 people 40km north of Shepparton in Victoria on the weekend of Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th October 2019. There was plenty to see and do over this fun weekend, a highlight being a "concert" of organs in the centre of the town on the Sunday afternoon. The usual BBQ, annual dinner, AGM and other functions for members was held over the weekend.

The 2020 Rally was to be held near Warragul in Gippsland (Victoria) on Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th October 2020. Unfortunately due to the Corona virus we had to cancel this event, and also a revised date at the same location in 2021.

The 2022 Rally was held on Saturday and Sunday 15th & 16th October 2022 in Griffith, N.S.W. being our first Rally since 2019. It formed a part of the Griffith "Spring Festival" which ran from 9th October to 23rd October with many special events. Whilst we had a good turn out of AMOS members, several cancelled due to the terribly wet weather which caused extensive flooding in NSW and Victoria. Fortunately Griffith was spared the worst of this, and indeed the sun made an appearance over the weekend. However the expected crowds failed to appear.

The 2023 Rally was held on Saturday and Sunday 14th & 15th October 2023 in Horsham, Victoria as part of the Garden Festival, a popular event supported by many local residents and a great town to visit. This was a thoroughly enjoyable event, with a laid back atmosphere and an excellent motel. As usual, AMOS members enjoyed a Friday BBQ, followed by playing our instruments in the Park on the Saturday & Sunday, with the Saturday night AGM & meal at our motel. A final meal on the Sunday night was another highlight. We enjoyed meeting new members....as well as our longstanding friends from previous AMOS events! (see "Contacts" page).