Well, that is the sound of the rhythm and blues of the Echuca-Moama's Winter Blues Festival which dropped its line-up last week ahead of an almighty resurrection this year.
After last year’s event was called off just weeks out from opening night due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Echuca-Moama's biggest blues festival is back for an action-packed three days of performances from July 23 to 25.
Included in this year's acts are 19 Twenty, Backwood Creatures, Bonnie Kay & The Bonafides, Jarrod Shaw, Paul Slattery, Safari Motel, The Barren Spinsters and White Lightning to name a few.
“We are delighted to announce the line-up,” festival organiser Peter Williams said.
“We think people will see some of Australia’s best blues musicians as they always do.”
With a 20 per cent turnover of acts each year, Mr Williams said the festival committee sought to find a balance of new and established acts as well as seeking a gender balance.
But with the number of stages cut from 25 to 17, and artist numbers down from 62 to 38 this year, Mr Williams admitted it was a hard task locking in the line-up.
“We had to make some pretty hard cuts,” he said.
Another tough decision was ticketing this year’s festival, made largely in part to deal with COVID-19 restrictions.
“We will sell just the number of tickets to match the stages and venues,” Mr Williams said.
“Everyone who gets a ticket will be able to get into a space.”
With tickets priced at $75 each, Mr Williams said attendees would still get value for their money.
“It’s still incredibly cheap compared to any other festival,” he said.
“We’re actually subsidising venues who normally take the cost of the bands.
“It’s going straight back into the community and our committee is absolutely committed to going back to a free festival when conditions allow.”
With the festival working in line with current COVID-19 restrictions, Mr Williams said things remained ever-changing for the organisers.
“We’ve made our call based on the restrictions today,” he said.
“If the numbers reduce from 2sqm per person to 1.5sqm that would allow us to sell more tickets.
“We will be responding to that right up until the day.”
For the full line-up and information on booking tickets, head to winterblues.com.au.
12°C