The Aireys Inlet Music Festival returns for its 2023 edition this March 17-19, featuring a bevy of local talent headlined by Ella Hooper (Killing Heidi) and Andy Golledge.
Now in its 17th year, the Aireys Inlet Music Festival offers a weekend of live music for $60, which artistic director Patrick Donovan said was “a 1980s ticket price”.
“It’s a very, very good time to be a music fan, there’s so much on, so we’ve very much factored that in with keeping ticket prices at $60 for the whole weekend,” Mr Donovan said.
Returning last year after a hiatus prompted by COVID-19, the festival has continued to follow the change of direction inspired by the break.
In the past the festival featured many unpaid busker acts with a few big (and well-paid) headline acts.
Mr Donovan, in his first year as artistic director, said the committee had decided to reinforce the changes seen in last year’s event, which focused more on local talent and younger acts.
“Last year happened at short notice, and the festival booked Josh Teskey and Checkerboard Lounge along with a bunch of local acts, and everyone came out in spades,” he said.
“So we’ve booked quite a young line-up, particularly for Saturday, and with the exception of a couple of headliners, most of the bands are from the area or came from the area originally.”
Among the talent with regional connections are Bones and Jones, Foggy Notion, Immy Owusu, Forever Son, the Beachniks, Dear Buffalo, Depp Porsal, and Matt Bourke and the Delusional Drunks.
“I haven’t seen too many festivals that really focus on the pride of the area and essentially say, hey, we’ve got enough amazing talent down here, we don’t need to look elsewhere,” Mr Donovan said.
“It’s a really strong community and that’s why we’re celebrating that.
“And I think people are noticing that we’re positioning it for a bit of a younger audience. So the young kids will be able to enjoy a certain band, but my 80-year-old dad will be there enjoying it as well.”
Mr Donovan said providing pathways for young, local musicians to find their way to the stage was another important part of the festival.
“We also feel we have a responsibility to provide stages and opportunities for young people to perform music, perform early gigs,” he said.
“We had Stu MacKenzie (King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard) from down this way, he played at this festival years ago as an up-and-comer. You have to wonder, if those opportunities weren’t there, would these artists have gone on to become musicians?
“I just think it’s vital for the area and for the young people, the young artists.”
