Musicians, venues and fans are rallying to stage an alternative “Bluesfest” in pubs and clubs in the Byron Bay region this weekend following last month’s dramatic collapse of the long-running festival.
Bluesfest has been a mainstay of the local economy every Easter for more than three decades, pumping cash into hundreds of local businesses from up to 100,000 music fans who descended on the region each year.
Locals have sprung into action, hastily cobbling together a huge patchwork of gigs, many featuring bands that would otherwise have been playing on one of the four massive stages at the 120-hectare site at Tyagarah, 13 kilometres north of Byron.
Big-name performers appearing at the mostly free events include The Living End, the Wailers, Taj Farrant, Hussy Hicks and Skegss.
Central Byron pub The Northern, with one of the biggest line-ups of the weekend, is expecting up to 6000 punters to pass through its doors.
Northern Hotel entertainment manager Marc Labonte said when Bluesfest pulled the pin the initial reaction was “devastation”.
“But we quickly turned that into ‘what can we do now in the next two weeks to bring something positive to town as quickly as we can?’” he said.
“All the venues around town have got on board and put things on and tried to make something of it. Blues has been part of the DNA of Byron for so many years and no one wants to see that just be forgotten.
“We’re running a mini festival across our two rooms, with the back room showcasing the bigger names and the larger bands like Jeff Martin from The Tea Party, Paul George from Tijuana Cartel, Minnie Marks, Mason Rack Band and then about 25 other local artists and a couple of others that were on the Bluesfest line-up.”
Destination NSW and Arts Minister John Graham have also come to the party, kicking in $95,000 to provide free buses for attendees, including a park and ride service from the Cavanbah sports centre outside Byron Bay.
Byron Shire Mayor Sarah Ndiaye, who has been helping co-ordinate the weekend’s events, called the free buses “a massive win”, and said the multi-venue festival could be a blueprint for Easter events down the track.
“I am hopeful that this is planting the seeds for something for the future,” she said. “We’ll see how it goes this weekend. We’re trying to make the most out of a difficult situation, to make lemonade out of lemons.”
Some of the biggest names of the weekend – including veteran Melbourne punk rockers The Living End and Jamaican reggae royalty The Wailers – will step on to the beer garden stage at the Hotel Brunswick at nearby Brunswick Heads.
Licensee at “The Bruns”, David Ryan, said the response had been massive.
“I think people still obviously want to do stuff in the area and are looking for that live music scene,” he said. “It was a bit of a scramble but it’s come together pretty well. We want to make sure Easter is as fun as possible for everyone.”
Meanwhile, Bluesfest director Peter Noble has yet to speak publicly more than two weeks after announcing his music empire had collapsed, owing more than $10 million to ticket holders and suppliers. Noble has been contacted for comment but failed to return messages at the time of publication.
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