Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Fesitval organisers are hoping coronavirus restrictions will ease enough to be able to host their annual fundrasier in September.
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The Winter Blues Showcase is the marquee fundraiser for the festival and was due to take place at the weekend but has been postponed until September 26.
Festival director Colin Thompson said volunteers were getting used to having to postponed gigs was something they were getting used to.
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"Every gig booked, big or small, comes with the caveat of 'government restrictions permitting'," he said.
"Hopefully we'll be able to go ahead on September 26 with enough punters allowed, so that we can make some dollars to tip into the pot for (our 10th festival).
"At the time I programmed it, state government restrictions were looser and the Golden Vine was able to host up to 200 patrons. Since then it's been zero, 50, 100, back down to 50.
"We're counting on it getting back up to 100 so we can afford to stage the event. If the limit is 50 or less we'll unfortunately need to pull the plug and refund tickets."
The line up for the Winter Blues Showcase on September 26 includes Bendigo performers Grim Fawkner, Flora, Jay Howie, the Mariah McCarthy Trio and the Bendigo Jazz Club.
Mr Thompson said the showcase-fundraiser gig was important for this year's festival with 2020 fundraising efforts cut short by lockdowns.
"We've not got as many sponsorship dollars in the bank as we normally would have by this time of the year," he said. "We've still not spent any of the sponsorship dollars we collected last year before the first COVID-enforced shutdowns, but our sponsorship drive was cut short last year, so we never got the bank account balance to where it normally would've been.
"Having said that, we've got a couple of irons in the fire with a couple of sponsors we're hoping will confirm soon for this year."
The Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival is scheduled to take place between November 3 and 7 this year.
"We're still hopeful of being able to deliver as close to a fully fledged festival as possible, whether that be in early November as originally planned, or in early 2022," Mr Thompson said.
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Mr Thompson said crews and musicians will continue soldier on by organising smaller gigs.
"We've not quit or thrown up our hands at any stage," he said. "We will continue to book the smaller gigs in particular, because those are more likely to be able to go ahead - short of an actual lockdown - and are also easier to reschedule when restrictions tighten at a moment's notice.
"The larger gigs are the ones that are tougher, particularly when you're working with touring acts. The last show we successfully staged at The Old Church on the Hill was in May. We've had to help reschedule shows for more than half a dozen touring acts since, due to travel restrictions in other states and lockdowns here.
"We just keep pushing them back on the calendar and crossing our fingers for the artists and for all the punters here busting to enjoy live music in person."
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