TIKI Taane and the Potbelleez have emerged as two of the favourites from the Airlie Beach Festival of Music 2016.

Former Salmonella Dub star Tiki worked the adoring crowd and had punters calling for more after finishing his set with a rendition of the Sublime classic What I Got on Saturday.

Corrine Frazer said she couldn't decide who she was more into, Tiki Taane or the Potbelleez.

"Tiki Taane was good for that time of the day (around 4pm), but I loved them both. I am so glad we came today,” she said.

Like many festivalgoers this year, Ms Frazer said the Potbelleez were a "surprise” act .

Promoter Gavin "Butto” Butlin initially said he had included them on the bill so there was something for the younger audience but speaking after the big top tent had been packed down on Tuesday, he acknowledged the three-piece act had been so much more than that.

"We haven't really had anything like that before and it was a huge success,” he said.

"When they were playing the vibe was just awesome - everyone was just going off. It was such a good show.”

Other acts to pull in the crowds included Tim Finn, who played his Crowded House hits, and Darryl Braithwaite, who brought the festival to a close on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Braithwaite even took the time to call MrButlin personally, saying "thank you” for putting on such a great event.

"I've been in this game for a long time and I've never had a major act ring me up like that. I was nearly crying by the end of it,” Mr Butlin said.

So now the dust has settled on another year, how does the festival's founding father think it stacked up?

"It was definitely our best one yet,” he said.

"Just the vibe and the bands. Every single act we booked put on the best show they possibly could.”

With more than an estimated 2500 people through the festival's gates, it's yet to be determined whether MrButlin has made the event pay.

Financing the event has been difficult in the past but local business owner Kevin Collins from Airlie's Rum Bar and Fish D'Vine thinks he might have found a solution that could work going forward.

Mr Collins was at the recent Destination Q forum in Mackay where the keynote speaker was Jan McCormick, chief executive officer of the Broadbeach Alliance.

Mr Collins described her presentation as a "eureka moment” with an idea he hoped Whitsunday Regional Council could adopt to ensure the ongoing success of local events.

"In simple concept, it is user pays. More specifically, those businesses in a particular area of the region which ultimately benefit from an event, or events in general, are all levied via the council rates to contribute to a fund for events,” MrCollins explained.

Mr Collins said the model at Broadbeach successfully funded a festival that attracted more than 200,000 visitors to the Gold Coast.

He said its organisers no longer had to go with begging bowls to those same supportive businesses prepared to contribute each year while many others got a free ride.

"The funding model at Broadbeach raises $1.2million a year and while our potential pool would be smaller, it would still be a significant amount of money which would come only from those who ultimately benefit - not only from the festival but from the long-term enhancement of brand Airlie Beach that all major events bring to the town,” he said.

Tourism Whitsundays CEO Craig Turner said he thought the "user pays” model worked as long as it had buy-in, but Mr Butlin said he had once approached 52 businesses at a meeting in Airlie Beach, none of which took him up on a plan for funding the event that year.

Nonetheless, he remained optimistic about the future of the event, saying "2017 - we'll make it happen. I don't know how, but it will happen”.

Mr Butlin is already in talks with potential acts for a line-up next year, including Kate Ceberano and Shannon Noll.