By Jesse Graham
HEALESVILLE’S annual Music Festival will be returning in November, and organisers are putting the call out for residents to lend a hand with the show.
The Healesville Music Festival will be held from 11 to 13 November in streets and venues around Healesville, gathering more than 20 bands and performers for its sixth annual weekend of music.
The Healesville RSL, Terminus Hotel, Memo Hall and Healesville Racecourse will be some of the main venues at this year’s event.
Organising committee member Auriol Hannaford said musicians would also be performing in the streets on the Saturday afternoon, as with last year’s festival.
Ms Hannaford said the racecourse was a new addition to the event, and that weekend-long camping at the site would be available.
She said the racecourse would also give budding musicians the chance to bring along their instruments and play in groups.
“We’ll sit around here, and there’s eight of us, and we’ll sit around and learn a song from someone, perhaps even with the musicians that are booked at the festival,” Ms Hannaford said.
One of the highlights of last year’s festival was a bush dance held at the Memo Hall on the Saturday evening, and Ms Hannaford said the show would “definitely” go ahead this year.
She said the weekend would be an opportunity for locals and visitors to explore the town and see music of all genres, including the USA’s Haywood Billy Goats – one of the headline acts.
“It’s a vibrant, colourful, really interesting place to come and listen to some music you might have heard before, or some familiar music, and find something new – and really immerse yourself in the heart of Healesville,” Ms Hannaford said.
“You can have a coffee, you can explore all there is in the outlying area and still come in and see some good music.
Ms Hannaford said that, with less than three months to go until the festival, the Yarra Valley Musicians Collective was looking for volunteers to come on board and help with preparing and running the festival.
She said interested volunteers can get in contact via the festival website, and that volunteers putting in four hours of work before or during the festival would receive a weekend pass.
For more information, visit www.healesvillemusicfestival.com.au
