Blues on Broadbeach 2021: What Gold Coast festival will look like post-COVID, program announced
Gold Coast artists are ready to match it with the best in the country at this week's Blues on Broadbeach.
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ARTISTS from across Australia will hit the stage from this Thursday for Blues on Broadbeach and Gold Coast artists will be among them.
Gold Coast artists Mitch King and Lecia Louise are ready to share their music with the local crowd.
King is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Born and raised on the Coast, he has spent years travelling and performing across Australia.
Known for his live dynamic performances mixing folk with blues ‘n’ roots through his vocals, guitars, harmonica and percussion, King said he was eager to hit the stage once again.
“I was lucky the COVID scenario didn’t affect me too badly because I had some other projects happening, but I know others were struggling,” he said.
“I got to spend some time away from music, which was nice, but the time has come to perform once again.”
Louise is the Coast’s very own rocker, dazzling crowds with her vocals and guitar shredding.
After the success of earning Triple J Unearthed’s top pop song and selling out her Home of the Arts (HOTA) shows earlier this year, Louise will play her first solo performance at Blues on Broadbeach next weekend.
“Being on the bill at Blues on Broadbeach has been a bucket list item and it’ll be nice to tick that off,” Louise said.
“It provides a way to stretch my profile and a great way to meet cool artists.”
For more information, visit bluesonbroadbeach.com
Popular Coast event announce four day program
26 April, 2021
FROM blues and roots to folk and rock, the returning Blues on Broadbeach have announced its program for next month’s festival.
The 20th addition of the music festival will feature established and emerging Australian acts, including a Grammy award winner.
One of the largest free music events in Australia will be hitting Broadbeach Boulevard from May 20-23.
Australian singer-songwriter Lloyd Spiegel will be starting proceedings on the first and second day, along with Hammond organist Lachy Doley and the Horns of Conviction on the Friday.
Also hitting the stage on the second day will be Melbourne outfit Jazz Party, and blues rock guitarist Hamish Anderson.
On Saturday West Australian rockers the Southern River Band are the precursor to headline act Wolfmother.
The Aussie rock legends known for ‘Joker and the Thief’ and ‘Woman’ will be showcasing their electric talent from 8:45pm.
The last day of the festival will feature Sydney blues guitarist and vocalist Ray Beadle followed by blues banjo player C.W. Stoneking.
Closing the event is the vibrant Christine Anu, performing the Aretha Franklin songbook.
The festival program can be accessed through the event’s official mobile app.
‘Pieces are coming together’: Epic revamp for popular Coast event
April 21, 2021
ONE of the Gold Coast’s biggest festivals is ready to roll – with a COVID-19 safety tick – due to new separation zones, patron scanning and extended outdoor seating plans.
Popular Blues on Broadbeach was cancelled in 2020 under COVID restrictions, but the event will be returning from May 20-23 this year with a different look.
A month out from what is one of Australia’s biggest free festivals, organisers at Major Events Gold Coast were able to get the go ahead with the Queensland Government ticking off on their COVIDSafe plan.
To keep patrons safe, zoned areas have been brought in. Partnering restaurants and bars will also have extra outdoor seating along main Broadbeach dining strip Surf Parade to create a “dine and watch precinct”, according to event director Mark Duckworth.
“Zones are going to be created across the event with perimeters around them, which people will have to check in and out of,” he said.
“That will be the same with all our stakeholder bars and restaurants.
“There will be wrist banding for the park stages, which will be a daily process that once people get their bands they’ll be able to move freely across the zones by checking in and out.
“It will have a real food festival vibe about it.”
In more good news for the festival, the announcement of the travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand means Kiwi roots legends the Black Seeds can make the event.
Mr Duckworth said despite other similar events like Byron Bay Blues Festival being cancelled, artists were still eager to make the trip to the Gold Coast.
“We had the casualty of Tommy Emmanuel from the US, which became too hard for him to come across,” he said.
“Apart from that, everyone is still playing and ready to go. I think everyone wants to get back to work.
“We’ve got acts coming from all different states, so we’ll be able to get some acts in no matter if another state is having issues.
“It’s been really hard and things can’t continue like this forever, we need more stability around what we can do.
“I feel slowly but surely pieces are coming together and I feel confident we’ll see more events go ahead in the future.”
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