TEG Dainty and TEG Live announced Sunday night that Fire Fight Australia has so far raised more than $9.5 million towards bushfire relief, with more donations expected when the show is televised in the United States and the United Kingdom in the coming days.
A passionate sold-out audience of 75,000 fans at ANZ Stadium in Sydney’s Olympic Park enjoyed 9.5 hours of performances from international and Australian superstars who donated their time and talent to the concert, hosted by writer, actor and comedian Celeste Barber.
Australians watched the concert live on the Seven Network and on Foxtel, which partnered with TEG to broadcast the full concert right across Australia. The viewing audience will grow in the coming days when highlights of the concert are broadcast internationally together with the call to action to donate.
The $9.5 million raised so far will go to assist Australian communities with short, medium and long-term recovery from the devastating bushfire season of 2019/2020.
Geoff Jones, CEO of TEG, said: “What a day and what a night it has been. Our huge thanks are owed to the 23 artists and bands and to the many companies and people who donated their time and services to make Fire Fight Australia happen. It has been an enormous effort from the music industry to pull this concert together in five weeks and we are just so proud of what has been achieved through our collective effort.
“Thank you too to the fans, whose generosity in buying tickets, merchandise, food and drink and donating through firefightaustralia.com has helped Fire Fight Australia raise $9.5 million so far to support Australia’s short, medium and long-term recovery from the bushfires. Fans and everybody involved can rest assured that we will provide a full breakdown of the final amounts raised as soon as possible.
“We are extremely grateful to the over 1500 suppliers and volunteers that helped ensure we were able to achieve this amazing result by providing services at cost or free of charge. Thank you again to everyone has made this very special day possible, and a special thanks to the entire TEG Team who have worked night and day, we could not be more proud and grateful.”
Paul Dainty, President and CEO of TEG Dainty, said: “We are overjoyed at the response from all of the fans here tonight at ANZ Stadium in Sydney and around the world. From the first conversation with Queen’s manager, Jim Beach, the band’s immediate response to support this amazing event was what set everything in motion.
“We want to give a special shout out to Celeste Barber for hosting this historic event, she has been one of the greatest supporters and we thank her.
“People can continue to donate and purchase the official Fire Fight Australia T-Shirt online with 100% of proceeds going to the fundraising efforts.”