The ART Music Awards have recognised a Bendigo music festival at its gala event in Sydney tonight.
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BIFEM- or the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music - won the Excellence in Experimental Music Award.
Judges said the event, which debuted in 2013, was a "courageous, stimulating and imaginative place for high quality experimental music in the Australian landscape".
Festival founder David Chisholm said the timing of the award was nice with the seventh iteration of the festival launching in September.
"It's never bad winning award (especially) with the festival coming up in a few weeks," he said.
"There's definitely nothing in Australia that does what we do but we have been around long enough to claim there's nothing like us in the world.
"It's not just content we present, it's a festival everyone loves to be a part of. A lot of that is because of its place in Bendigo."
Chisholm launched the festival seven years ago with three recitals, eight concerts, two talks, a lecture, and a workshop.
The 2018 festival featured 19 performances across six days.
"After the first edition I definitely knew I was on to something," Mr Chisholm told the Bendigo Advertiser last year.
"Every festival has its challenges and surprises but (BIFEM) has garnered international and national respect.
"There is a smaller local audience (than what we would like) but there's deep respect for the festival in Bendigo."
This year's festival will take place from September 6 to 8.
"I'm excited by the fact we have got such a different feel yet again, each edition has its own character," Chisholm said.
See this year's festival program at www.bifem.com.au
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