While Byron Bay Bluesfest 2015 is still fresh in our memories, having concluded just a mere few weeks ago, festival director Peter Noble is not wasting any time in making sure Bluesfest 2016 tops this year’s event, which those who attended know will be quite the challenge.
Writing in the latest instalment of the festival’s newsletter, Noble says that he is already “inspired” for next year’s event and kicked things off by thanking all the people who turned out to this year’s Bluesfest to watch the likes of Hozier, Alabama Shakes, and more.
Noble then quickly gets to some of the radical changes he’s got lined up for next year. “The list of artists for next year is indicating it is going to be a classic Bluesfest in 2016. We have well over 150 artists on offer to come and play,” the promoter writes.
“I would like to share with you that I am toying with a couple of ideas,” Noble continues. “One is doing a headliner performance at 5pm daily, so our families, which are such an important part of Bluesfest, can get to see genuine 100% headliners before their young ones get tired and they need to take them home.”
Noble also writes that there will be a roster of “20 artists, who have either never toured Australia, or if Australian never played Bluesfest before, or not for many years next year”, indicating that a large number of these acts would be “contemporary artists, who went so well this year”.
Indeed, this year’s Bluesfest lineup received particular accolades for some of the newer artists featured on the bill and Noble had previously indicated to Tone Deaf that the future of the festival would be focused on building up this new wave of blues and roots musicians.
“However, we will not be forgetting the artists who have had longer careers, and I am in discussions with a number who will be coming in 2016 including a couple of genuine legends who can easily sell out arenas,” Noble insists.
[include_post id=”443327″]
Futhermore, Noble says organisers will be looking to make their first artist announcement “much earlier than ever before this year” in order to tie in with an early Easter 2016. He adds that Byron Bay Bluesfest 2016 will be held from 24th – 28th March.
“So here’s a heads up, if you want to take advantage of our Pre-Early Bird & Early Bird ticket prices, they are going to be on sale for a MUCH shorter period this year,” writes Noble. “If you intend to come for the 5 days next year, the time to buy is now for the best price.”
Pre-early bird tickets for Bluesfest 2016 are on sale now and moving fast. According to organisers, over 75 percent of the allocation has already sold out and they expect to see the rest gone very soon. Readers can head on over to the official Bluesfest website for tickets and all details.
