A new music festival to be based in Bendigo’s CBD could feature up to 80 artists and more than 200 performances over four days.
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The Bendigo Autumn Music festival is slated to makes its debut next year.
The four-day festival will be held from April 25 to April 28 and is expected to utilise venues around the View Street arts precinct.
BAM director Glenn Wright has helped create and run the New South Wales-based Mullum Music Festival (10 years old) and Bello Winter Music (four years old) events.
“I always had the intention of having three festivals if I could,” he said.
“Over the last four years, I have been looking for the perfect location for a third music festival.
“There seems to be a cultural edge to Bendigo and, talking to people (in the city), it seems like the kind of thing that will really work.
“Bendigo already has a really good blues festival and this adds to what the city has already got.”
Like the Mullum and Bello festivals, Mr Wright expects BAM to be a boutique music event with a diverse, family friendly line-up that will be announced later this year.
“It is a boutique music lovers’ festival,” he said. “There will be lots of different music styles that suit an audience from 25 to 50-year-olds.
“In first few years, we are pitching it as a weekend away for people from out of the region. Bendigo is a train trip away but we also want as many locals involved as possible.”
Unlike the Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival, which is largely a free festival with some ticketed events, Bendigo Autumn Music will be a ticketed event with four-day passes and day passes to go on sale soon.
“There will be some free events but it is ticketed,” Mr Wright said.
“For a season pass we are looking around $240 for four days. Then individual tickets for (single) days will be around $85.”
The first announcement of performers will be in mid-September with the main line-up announcement taking place in October.
Mr Wright said the line-up would be a mix of local, national and international musicians.
“With around 80 artists playing over the four days, there will be well over 200 performances,” he said.
“We are looking at a third of the artists being from the local area, as well as a bunch of national and international artists. We are committed to equal representation of the sexes in our programming and performers of all ages.
“We will have a really lovely youth mentorship program where local artists will have a chance to be mentored by four artists from the festival.”
The main line-up announcement in October will also unveil which venues will host acts over the four-day event.
“Pretty much everyone in Bendigo I have spoken with, including the venues, are really up for it,” Mr Wright said.
“After three years of looking for a (new music festival opportunity) and going to places, talking with business operators and councils, I ended in Bendigo because of the venues.
“The City of Greater Bendigo was really interested in project and it was encouraging.
“Existing venues like Ulumbarra and The Capital are amazing and we want to involve a lot of pubs, clubs and even cafes.
“Whether it is jazz in a cafe or a concert with artists in the evening, we want to make it a really fun four days.”
Artists applications are now open. For more information visit www.bendigoautumnmusic.com
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