The Boxing Day Party to be staged at Hobart’s Botanical Gardens on December 26

Coronavirus may have claimed the Taste and Falls Festival this year, but a newly-announced event will help to fill the void. DETAILS >>>

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TASMANIAN music fans starved of live performances during the coronavirus pandemic will get their fix with a late Christmas present this year.

Following the cancellation of the Taste of Tasmania and Falls Festival due to COVID-19 restrictions, promoters have launched The Boxing Day Party to help fill the void.

One thousand fans will be able to flock to Hobart’s Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens for the 18+ event, which will comply with gathering limits enforced by the state government.

Organisers have promised some of the state’s best music talent, with the December 26 event to be headlined by Tasmanian punk rockers A. Swayze & The Ghosts.

A. Swayze & The Ghosts will perform at The Boxing Day Party at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens on December 26.

The outfit has won the state’s best live act two years running and have performed at festivals like Splendour in the Grass, Falls Festival and Bigsound.

They will be supported by dance rock and electronica outfit Chase City, indie quartet The Tinderboxers, alt-pop group Kudu Joy, along with Slag Queens, Lazer Baby, Lennon Wells, and Katie Wilson.

Lazer Baby are part of the line-up for The Boxing Day Party.

Vandemonian Touring director Brendan Self said it would be the first of a series of gigs the promoters would be announcing at the gardens and other venues.

“It has been a hard year for everyone involved in our industry and we are really excited to have the Boxing Day Party as our first big outdoor gig of the summer,’’ he said.

“It will be great to see everyone getting together and enjoying live music again.

“The Boxing Day Party has traditionally always been a big gathering with a focus on music and catching up with friends after the Christmas holiday and the gardens is the perfect location for this event.”

The Tinderboxers.

Tasmanian artists are looking forward to the chance to perform live, with Sabine Bester from alt-pop band Kudu Joy saying it would be a special day.

“It’s been a long wait to feel the energy from a large audience, and the support of our music community in person,’’ she said.

“We’ve also got some new material in the works, and this will be a good chance to showcase some of that, before it’s recorded and released next year.”

Ben Wells, from the group Lennon Wells, said it would be “pretty epic” to play at the outdoor gig on Boxing Day.

“We’re just stoked that live music has made a return to Tassie,’’ he said.

Tickets will go on sale on Monday from 9am, costing $20 plus booking fee, or $25 on the day if the event is not sold out.

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