JAZZ lovers were treated to a full weekend of music in central Victoria over the weekend during the second annual Castlemaine Jazz Festival.
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More than 285 registered musicians and about 85 bands were part of this year's event, which kicked off on Friday and featured a jam-packed program which carried all the way through to Sunday night.
Organiser Ted Woollan said the second festival had been a lot busier than the inaugural festival last year by "quite a margin".
Although exact numbers were yet to be tallied, Mr Woollan said the figures were in excess of the 600 people a day they had last year, with pre-sale tickets outnumbering last year's total attendance.
He said the festival aimed to get all musicians involved, with every musician who registersed getting a spot.
While it attracts a number of amateur musicians, Mr Woollan said this year there had been a lot of professionals who had found out about it and got involved.
"We've had some great musos," he said.
He said some of the best acts over the weekend included several performances by piano player Adeish and a band called Glass Moon, while a couple of new venues had also shared the spotlight.
"The Old Gaol really surprised us, they went all out; put in a stage, had fantastic lighting and possibly the best sound system of the lot," he said.
"We've had some very successful sessions there."
He said some of Saturday's master classes had also proved hugely popular, especially among younger musicians.
"Bob Sedergreen held two masterclasses on Saturday, with about 90 to 100 people in each class," he said.
"It was fantastic."