The Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival (otherwise known as Bendigo Blues & Roots or BBRMF) was a four-day music festival held in November each year in the central Victorian city of
Bendigo. The not-for-profit event was first held in 2011 and features performances and workshops at various venues and locations throughout Bendigo.
History
The first year of the festival (2011) was held over three days in November (25–27) and included over 58 different artists, with a free concert held in
Rosalind Park
Rosalind Park is an Australian park in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Prior to white settlement, a grassy woodland surrounding what is now called Bendigo Creek. At that time the creek was little more than a chain of pools and billabongs ...
headlining the festival.
In 2012 the free festival headline concert changed location moving to the Bendigo Civic Gardens, and this time the festival included the addition of "The Blues Tram", featuring performances aboard some of the
vintage trams which are still operating in Bendigo. The festival was held over four days in November (8 - 11) and this time included over 90 acts throughout 20 venues.
2013 saw the festival headline concert return to Rosalind Park. The festival was held over four days in November (7–10) with over 100 acts performing throughout 22 venues.
In 2014 the festival ran over 4 days from 6–9 November, with over 116 artists performing throughout Bendigo and surrounds. This year the festival held the main event at the Bendigo Civic Gardens. The inaugural 'Lazenby Young Blues Guitarist Award' was also held in 2014. This award was set up to honour Phil Lazenby, who died in 2013.
In 2015 the festival staged over 400 performances in 48 venues from more than 180 acts over the 4-day program from 5–8 November. This included a return to Rosalind Park for the all-day family-friendly concert. It also included headline concerts at the
Capital and
Ulumbarra Theatres, as well as shows of all shapes and sizes at all kinds of venues in and around the city.
In 2016, approximately 15,000 people attended the festival.
2017 saw the festival run over four days, officially launching at the Gold Dust Lounge on Thursday. Thirty-two venues hosted live music for the festival, as well as the main stages in Rosalind Park on Saturday. 2017 also saw the acts hosted in the
Golden Dragon Museum
The Golden Dragon Museum () is situated in the city of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The museum is dedicated to the culture and history of Chinese Australians, particularly in the region. Built on the historical site of one of Bendigo's Chinatown ...
for the first time since the festival began.
The 2018 festival hosted over 150 acts in 50 venues, and included both free and ticketed events. For the first time, the 2018 festival also held 'Blues Boot Camp' - a two day workshop aimed at developing theoretical and practical music industry skills for young musicians.
The festival was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria
The COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in the state of Victoria, also the first in ...
. The final event was took place in 2022 from 3-6 November, featuring 122 artists including
Goanna
A goanna is any one of several species of lizards of the genus '' Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous reptiles ranges ...
and
Colin Hay
Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay's music ha ...
of
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1978 and best known for breakthrough hits such as " Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", " Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and frontman is C ...
.
See also
*
List of blues festivals
Blues festivals are music festivals which focus on blues music. Blues is a genreKunzler's dictionary of Jazz provides two separate entries: blues, an originally African-American genre (p.128), and the blues form, a widespread musical form (p.131 ...
References
External links
* {{Commons category-inline
Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival official website
Music festivals established in 2011
Festivals in Victoria (Australia)
Blues festivals in Australia
Folk festivals in Australia
Bendigo