festival fun times

As autumn approaches, so does music festival season! From a one-day festival in our backyard, to a long weekend Bluesfest jaunt, it’s time to grab your wellies and start planning your festival outfit!

As autumn approaches, so does music festival season! From a one-day festival in our backyard, to a long weekend Bluesfest jaunt, it’s time to grab your wellies and start planning your festival outfit!

Images Pete Balmer @illawarratimes

Get Together Festival

Wombarra Bowlo
16 March
gettogetherfestival.com.au

Back for its third year, the team behind the Get Together Festival have created their biggest line-up to date. Headliners The Beautiful Girls and Ray Beadle (plus many more) will provide a huge day of live music, with a hearty mix of roots and reggae, jazz, blues and afro beats.

It’s family-friendly – kids under 12 are free, with kids’ activities running all day. With open greens to explore, ocean views to take in, and a cold beverage – sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

WOMADelaide

Adelaide Botanic Park
8-11 March
womadelaide.com.au

Since 1992, the iconic WOMADelaide festival has celebrated cultural discovery and is a truly unique part of the Australian festival landscape. Showcasing the best in music, arts, dance and ideas from around the world, including Ziggy Marley, Jose Gonzalez, Morcheeba and Australia’s own Mo’Ju.

From Estonian traditional singing crafted over 4000 years (Mari Kalkun), to Cambodian rock and roll (Cambodian Space Project) and French house music (Braxe + Falcon), WOMADelaide is the epitome of an eclectic line up.

Byron Bay Bluesfest

Byron Events Farm
28 March – 1 April
bluesfest.com.au

Over five days and four stages, Bluesfest means business! Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2024, the epic line-up just gets bigger and better every year.

Held over the Easter long weekend, it takes a dedicated festival goer to take on a full five-day pass – but as your reward, international superstars Tom Jones, Elvis Costello, Jack Johnson, Portugal. The Man and Rickie Lee Jones, plus local legends Jimmy Barnes, The Cruel Sea, Dan Sultan, Matt Corby and Yirrmal.

 

More Music related articles:

From international artists like the Appalachian boot-scooting Martha Spencer to local four-piece string band Mother Banshee, the 38th annual Illawarra Folk Festival has variety in spades.
With the launch of her newest album 'Married to the Sound', Elana Stone speaks on her musical evolution, the impact of motherhood and her home of the Illawarra region.

Ahead of her upcoming LP release later this year, we talked to singer-songwriter, Polly Hazelton, about her new single exploring the impact of addiction, 'Round 2000'

Indie-pop royalty San Cisco are hitting the road touring regional Australia in support of their fifth studio album 'Under The Light', released this month. We caught up with lead singer Jordi Davieson to chat about creating the album in their home studio and collaborating with industry heavyweights.

Freyja Garbett, an experimental artist, composer, and producer hailing from the Illawarra has captivated audiences across the globe. Inspired by the rhythms of the ocean and the art of surfing, her music transcends genres and carries an urgent message of environmental advocacy in their soundscapes.

A queer black Australian icon is being called to the stage once more. We chat to Elenoa Rokobaro, the powerhouse performer bringing Nellie Small and the magic of cabaret to Merrigong.

We spoke to guitarist Andrew Blanch from Ensemble Offspring about The Surge, ahead of their performance at Bundanon.

After being discovered by fellow South Coast surf rock band The Terrys, Kiama’s Bronte Alva has been making serious moves. Embarking on a three-month long tour to celebrate the release of her new single ‘Taylor Swift,’ Bronte will go out with a bang when she takes to the stage at the Yours and Owls Festival in October in front of a home crowd.

Melbourne band, Teenage Dads, have spent the year touring Europe and the US with Lime Cordiale, racking up 55 shows in just seven months. Wollongong gets the chance to see the ‘Hey Diego’ and ‘Speedracer’ boys perform twice this year – this week as part of their headline tour plus at Yours and Owls in October.

Local indie-pop dance group Pirra recently played their biggest venue ever – the Sydney Opera House - and are ready to take on Yours & Owls Festival 2023

Meet Wollongong’s latest music collab Benjamino x Meadowhip (aka Ben Cauduro and Cara Walkam) and their new track ‘On Repeat’

Indie rock band Holy Holy are kicking off their national tour in Wollongong this Friday April 14, to celebrate their latest single ‘Messed Up.’ We caught up with Timothy ahead of their upcoming gig at UOW UniBar.

This March, the Kiama Blues & Jazz Festival will see local jazz musicians Alan Hicks and Nick Garbett unite on stage

The solo project of Australian musician Ben "Boo" Gumbleton, Boo Seeka is halfway through a jam-packed regional tour. We spoke to Ben about the power of playing live, his love for touring regionally and the importance of staying true to yourself creatively.

Performing at both Honk Oz and the Illawarra Folk Festival in coming weeks, US saxophonist Ken Field chats about bringing the sounds of New Orleans street bands to Wollongong.

Five years ago, The Finz didn’t exist, and its foundation members weren’t even musicians. Now, they are selling out venues and breaking pub records for beer sales.

What began as a studio project in 2012 has led to a successful decade-long music career for local seven-piece, Shining Bird.

The indie quartet have just released a new single, Honeymoon Diver

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