Five-day music feast a boon for Bendigo

PREPARATIONS are nearing completion for the internationally acclaimed Bendigo Chamber Music Festival 2025 – its sixth edition – featuring an expanded lineup of local, Australian and international artists.

The festival runs for five days, starting with the opening gala on Wednesday 5 February at The Capital and closing on Sunday 9 February with a farewell concert at the same venue.

It is expected to provide a boost to the local hospitality and accommodation sectors, with audiences travelling from far and wide.

Festival co-director Chris Howlett said since its inaugural year the festival has attracted a nice blend of about 35 per cent of audiences coming from interstate, and a lot more from Melbourne.

“We started with a really strong base and we’ve seen huge growth year on year from then,” he said.

“It’s really beautiful that we’ve got (such) great patronage, and talking to some of the motel owners up and down View Street, they’ve been booked out for 12 months in advance.

“The flow-on effect – all the restaurants say the same thing, that there’s a huge spike.”

He said the lineup is purposely “multi-faceted” so attendees can “pick and choose” what they see.

“There’s over 250 people that come for the full festival, and if they’re here for (the whole) five days, we want to give them real musical variety,” he said.

“We also make sure that (for) each concert there’s a work that is really approachable, and then there’s a work that perhaps creates curiosity.”

The Bendigo Chamber Music Festival 2025 takes place between Wednesday 5 and Sunday 9 February at various venues in town.

Buy tickets on the festival’s official website.