Hot off the heels of winning the NSW Tourism award for Best Major Festival and Event, Bluesfest is proud to announce that they have once again been recognised by music industry giant Pollstar with a nomination for ‘International Music Festival of the Year’ for their 2017 festival. Bluesfest 2017 was a huge success with over 105,000 attendees who enjoyed artists including Patti Smith, Santana, Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Mary J. Blige, NAS, Neil Finn, St Paul and the Broken Bones and The Doobie Brothers. This is the 6th year in a row Bluesfest has been nominated and the 8th time in total. Bluesfest 2017 has some incredible competition with the following festivals also up for the award: Barclaycard British Summer Time (London, UK), C2C: Country to Country (London & Glasgow, UK; Dublin, Ireland), Glastonbury Festival (Pilton, UK). Lollapalooza (Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Primavera Sound (Barcelona, Spain).
Peter Noble, Executive Director of Bluesfest comments on the nomination:
“We have just been nominated for Pollstar’s ‘International Music Festival of the Year’ award. Bluesfest now has been nominated for an incredible 6 years in a row and 8 years in total and are the only Australian festival to be nominated in over a decade. We are always up against the biggest festivals in the world including the Glastonbury festival. It continues to amaze us that a boutique festival – with a capacity of 25k people daily over our 5 days continues to be nominated against festivals who have capacities of up to 200k people. I would like to salute all the artists who played Bluesfest in 2017, the artists who have played over the past 29 years and especially all the people who have worked on the event to make it what it is…take a bow.”
Bluesfest has also received a Keeping the Blues Alive Award from The Blues Foundation in Memphis Tennessee. Blues Foundation President and CEO Barbara Newman reports that “each year, our KBA Selection Committee does a wonderful job of pinpointing those individuals and organizations that are working behind the scenes to celebrate, promote, and bring greater awareness to the blues. Our 2018 Keeping the Blues Alive award recipients are all wonderful examples of blues flame keepers, each working in their own sphere of influence to move the genre forward while honouring its past.”
Peter Noble comments on Bluesfest’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award:
“After being the major presenter of Blues in Australia for 40 years, and the director of Bluesfest for almost 30 years it is an honour to receive this award on behalf of Bluesfest, Blues and associated music in Australia. Thanks to all the music lovers who come every year and help to Keep the Blues alive in Byron Bay”.
Blues legends such as B.B King, James Brown, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Bonamassa, Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tony Joe White, Seasick Steve and countless others have played at Bluesfest over the past 28 years.
Bluesfest is a five-day music festival held over Easter each year. In 2018 it begins on Thursday 29 March and runs to Monday 2 April at the beautiful Tyagarah Tea Tree farm, 10 minutes outside Byron Bay. Renowned for its peaceful, friendly vibe, the event is popular with music lovers of all ages, who enjoy 12 hours of music on multiple stages, fantastic food from around the world and a plethora of market stalls. Artists announced for 2018 include Lionel Richie, Robert Plant, John Butler Trio, Youssou Ndour, Tash Sultana, Seal, Jackson Browne, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Gomez, The New Power Generation, Walter Trout, Bobby Rush, Joe Louis Walker José Gonzalez, Jimmy Cliff, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers, Canned Heat plus many more with further announcements to come.
