If coming from the North of the state you would travel down the long and windy road of Elephant Pass and, just when you think the corners would never end, you hit St Marys.

This is when you knew you were officially on you holiday.

You may have been visiting grandparents who had chosen the stunning East Coast to retire, setting up camp at the caravan park or utilising the family’s shack.

What a difference a few years makes.

Many of these shacks are now Airbnbs or other forms of short-term accommodation.

The road that connects these holiday towns –  for example Scamander, Bicheno, Coles Bay and Swansea – will have millions of dollars spent on upgrading the route called the Great Eastern Drive.

The upgrades serves two purposes – the obvious is a more enjoyable experience for the tourist, but the second and sometimes forgotten beneficiary are the locals.

Today the population of St Helens will increase 10-fold.

The town of 1500 people will grow towards 15,000 as many people head along to the free concert hosted by triple j.

The easy part for the council and region was to say yes to the opportunity to host the concert.

Then it was all about the hard work. 

The obvious are the issues of accommodation, infrastructure and community safety. 

Time will tell whether people will be able to make phone calls at the event or if anyone will be silly enough to abuse the concept of a family-friendly, booze free concert.

One thing for sure is the town is ready to welcome all the visitors – whether it be fellow Tasmanians or mainlanders who jumped on a boat or plane just for the concert.

Hopefully it will more than a one night stand, with many of the 15,000 expected one day returning for a second visit.

A big congratulations to everyone involved in helping to create this event and showing size doesn’t matter when it comes to opportunity.