Day 14 Music Festivals

14 October: Music Festivals – My six picks for the upcoming summer season

Part of Summer down Under has to be Music Festivals. Between December and late March,  mostly outdoors,  they are the essence of summer.  Plan your holiday around one or more and have a marvellous time, soaking in the atmosphere,  trying out new brews, eating interesting food, singing your heart out (if that’s what you like doing), boogeying, collapsing in a heap late at night and getting up and doing it all over again. Take a group of friends for the ultimate holiday.

Sadly, there is no Big Day Out in NZ or Australia in 2015, but the promoter intends to bring in back again sometime.

My six picks, in no particular order:

The 38th  Port Fairy Music Festival  Port Fairy, Victoria
6- 9 March, 2015

I’ve been to Port Fairy in the past with some dear friends of mine, so I’m putting that first. I loved it, the atmosphere, the village, everything. Even the car journey from Melbourne was beautiful along the Great Ocean Highway. Port Fairy is a charming historic sea-side village found on the beautiful south-west coast of Victoria. This independent, community run, ‘folk, roots and beyond’ music festival presents major international and national artists over a huge four day festival. Around 500 performances are held in undercover venues in The Arena and around the village including concerts, theme concerts, workshops, classes, talks, dancing and comedy acts. A diverse program covers musical genres including roots and rhythm, country, world sounds, comedy and cabaret. Getting accommodation seems to be the biggest hurdle, so don’t leave it too long. 

WOMAD – Adelaide and Taranaki

Adelaide, 6-9 March 2015, Taranaki 13-15 March 2015

The southern hemisphere's biggest world music festival, which takes place across seven stages in a beautiful Adelaide park. If you want to hear music you won't get at any other festival, it's a must. WOMAD in Taranaki is equally large, spanning the TSB Bowl and Brooklands Park. We went two years ago for the first time to cap a great walking trip around Taranaki with our group. It was certainly fun and interesting, but that year unfortunately, it was decidedly wet. It poured with rain, but that didn’t deter the thousands camping and dancing!

A Day on the Green  

The Hill Winery, Geelong (25 January), Bimbagen Winery, Hunter Valley (1 February), SirrometWines, Mount Cotton (2), All Saints Estate, Rutherglen (8), Leconfield Wines, McLaren Vale (22), Petersons Winery, Armidale (1 March), Robert Oatley Vineyards, Mudgee (8), Josef Chromy Wines, Launceston (15), Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley (22)

25 January – 22 March

A Day on the Green runs in the summer months from October – March with around 30 concerts per season in the all major wine-growing regions around Australia.  Described as "the Big Day Out for grown-ups", A Day on the Green offers a handful of bands serenading blissed-out crowds in wineries around the country (and in New Zealand). Picnics are not only encouraged but awarded prizes.

St Jerome's Laneway Festival 

Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Auckland, Detroit
26 January – 8 February

AskMen put the Laneway Festival at Number one:  “With its intimate summer atmosphere and brilliant direction this is a festival that every Aussie should experience, on its way to become an iconic Australian cultural event. Arguably Australia's hippest music festival, St Jerome's Laneway  has a typically mouthwatering bill of bands most likely to go supernova.”

Opera at Langford, Walcha, NSW

15th November 2014

Set in the picturesque grounds of  historic Langford, Opera at Langford, Walcha will feature tenor Bradley Daley, sopranos Peta Blyth and Amanda Windred, mezzo soprano Ruth Strutt, bass David Hibbard with pianist John Woods and flautist Nick Negerevich.  A string quartet with players Margaret Butcher, Julie Fawcett, Sofia Debus and Robert Jackson will also be performing.  

Bluesfest  

 Byron Bay, New South Wales
Easter - 2nd -6th April 2015

Bluesfest is one of Australia's premier music festivals which celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2014. The festival is held annually over the Easter long weekend at its home, the Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, 11km north of Byron Bay. It is an operational Tea Tree Farm for most of the year and turns into a Bluesfest site for a few weeks before, during and after the Easter Festival weekend. The festival features more than 200 performances from a diverse array of classic to contemporary artists across seven stages. 20,000 passionate and loyal music lovers of all ages visit Bluesfest daily to enjoy the world class music, impressive range of food and market stalls and the unique Bluesfest festival atmosphere.