Bluesfest 2022 returns after a three-year lay-off to blow pandemic blues away

For the first time since 2019, one of Australia’s biggest multi-day music festivals has roared back to life at full volume, as Byron Bay Bluesfest returns across the Easter long weekend.

Festival goers backstage at Byron Bay’s Bluesfest, from left: Ozzy, Sadie, Courtney Hall and Evie Dennis. Picture: Jane Dempster

For the first time since 2019, one of Australia’s biggest multi-day music festivals has roared back to life at full volume, as Bluesfest returns across the Easter long weekend.

Situated north of Byron Bay and featuring the cream of the ­nation’s best rock, pop, blues, roots and country acts, the five-day camping event will see about 90,000 revellers in attendance through to Monday.

“It’s busy, and I feel like everyone’s excited to get here and make the most of it,” said Evie Dennis, who was introducing her children to the Bluesfest experience, complete with gumboots and matching earmuffs.

Headline artists include Midnight Oil, Crowded House, Paul Kelly, and Jimmy Barnes, as well as a few international acts such as The Wailers, George Benson and Morcheeba.

Scattered showers fell on Friday, but the otherwise sunny forecast predicts nothing like the torrential rain seen across the ­region in recent months.

For the Hunter family, who travelled from Maitland in the NSW Hunter Valley to set up their campsite on Thursday, it was an opportunity to soak up one of the great Australian musical traditions with two of their four children.

“We looked at the line-up and we thought, ‘What the hell? Let’s just do it. We’re going to Byron this year’,” Kyle Hunter told The Weekend Australian on Friday.”

“It’s so good to have live music back,” he said. “You can see it in the musos as well: they’ve started playing the odd show prior to this, but to have decent crowds again – they’re loving it. We’re thriving off their energy, and they are thriving off ours.”

Other than abundant hand sanitiser throughout the venue, there are few obvious signs of the dreaded coronavirus and associated restrictions, which have greatly affected live music workers and their fans over the past two years.

“It’s just good to be able to get out there and dance and not worry – and not have to sit down at a concert,” said Tammy Hunter. “We’re first-timers, but we’ll definitely come back.”