THE Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival is getting into the swing of things, with a calendar of gigs leading up to its main event on 4 to 7 November.<\/p>\n
Director Colin Thompson said organisers are excited to get shows on stage after last year\u2019s festival was confined to online live streams.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur excitement is still tempered by the chance of a snap-lockdown pulling the rug out from under us at the last minute of course,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The BB&RMF team is working closely with the City of Greater Bendigo and more than 50 local venues to ensure positive experiences for artists and guests.<\/p>\n
Mr Thompson said the support from venues is \u201cone of the big drivers\u201d for their confidence in hosting the 10th annual festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout their commitment to staging gigs in their venues as part of our program and pay artists for their work, there’s no way we could stage a large-scale music festival in the current environment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the time we’ve been allowed to host in-person events, even on the smallest scale, we’ve been hard at work supporting local venues and artists, as well as touring artists, through our partnerships with venues like Hustler, Shiraz Republic, Handle Bar, The Golden Vine Hotel and others.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur ticketed shows at The Old Church on the Hill have played a big part in being able to generate meaningful gig experiences for artists and audiences as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Thompson said COVID-19 has taken away many opportunities for artists who are \u201cchomping at the bit\u201d to get back to regular gigs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ll continue to do what we can to help the artists we’ve worked with over the years, especially since so many of them are like family to us now, after running our home-grown festival for over 10 years,\u201d he said. \u201cI only wish we could have as many artists come and play as deserve the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
A taste of the festival is coming next month, with the first BB&RMF major showcase of the year on Sunday, 15 August from 2pm to 7pm at the Golden Vine Hotel.<\/p>\n
Mr Thomspon said they will have local acts including Grim Fawkner, Flora, Mariah McCarthy and her accompanists Cassie Ward and Ben Langdon and Jay Howie.<\/p>\n
Visiting acts include RAMBAL and T.K Reeve from Melbourne, Charlie Bedford from Ballarat and Alister Turrill from Queenscliff.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we get to sell all 200 tickets, but we’re waiting patiently for restrictions to loosen again before we can release the last 100 tickets,\u201d Mr Thompson said.<\/p>\n