33,000 expected to pack McDonald Jones Stadium for Pink Newcastle concert on February 13, 2024

The February 13, 2024 concert at McDonald Jones Stadium was announced to much excitement on Thursday morning, with fans keen to see the pop superstar return to Newcastle for the first time since she did four shows at Newcastle Entertainment Centre in 2009.

To celebrate her return, Newcastle landmarks have turned pink for a week including City Hall, Port of Newcastle, Crystalbrook Kingsley and the stadium.

The Summer Carnival tour announcement comes off the back of successful Elton John concerts in January, which drew 50,000 people to the stadium across two nights.

However Pink's show will feature a standing floor section rather than seated, allowing organisers to fit a greater number of people in to see the three-time Grammy Award winner.

And McDonald Jones Stadium general manager Dean Mantle said he had his fingers crossed for even more.

"Who knows, if we sell our tickets nice and quickly she might do a second show," he said.

The second Elton John show was a result of strong ticket sales. Mr Mantle said the demand was also what helped secure Pink.

"It's been a process that has taken place probably for the last three or four months," he said. "It certainly was on the cards, but I think the key was the success of what we did for Elton John. That sort of sealed the deal."

Mr Mantle said they had also taken lessons from the January concerts - which were the first held at the stadium in more than 30 years.

"The first show of Elton, there were some hiccups," he said. "It was widely known that we had a few issues with buses. So we addressed that the very next day. The second show on Tuesday, we doubled our buses.

"We can't get it right every time. But we are aware that if we do make a mistake, it's something that we can rectify very quickly. So there's no concern that if you had issues in the last event, you will again. There were very few issues and that's something I'm very, very proud of.

"There will be something that pops up. But we will work really hard over the next 12 months to ensure that we've got the right people in doing the jobs that will get the right outcome. And there is no doubt that it's going to be a spectacular event."

One person hoping another concert gets added is Alloggio CEO Will Creedon. Alloggio has a suite of hotels, motels and holiday homes and Mr Creedon said they were at 100 per cent occupancy across the Newcastle area for Elton John.

"It was tremendous," said Alloggio CEO Will Creedon. "Being a Sunday and Tuesday, it provided an uplift at what is traditionally not a very busy time of the week."

Elton John's two concerts in January injected an estimated $14 million into the local economy. Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said more than 75 per cent of concert goers were from out of the city.

"This included 16,000 people from outside of the Hunter as well as interstate and international visitors, which plays an essential role in boosting tourism around the event, as well as encouraging repeat visitation in the future," she said.

Mr Creedon said he believed there should be greater effort to grow the events industry.

"We should be building the industry that supports these events," he said. "It's important that we keep attracting them."

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