Festival fever in the twin towns

By Michael Lloyd and Gregor Mactaggart

Jul 30, 2023

Still got the blues: Fiona Boyes performs at the wharf. Photo: Josh Huntly Photo by Josh Huntly

Thousands enjoyed the best of Echuca-Moama at the 2023 Winter Blues Festival, which wrapped up in fine style last night.

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The festival, celebrating its 24th year, saw blues artists and bands perform at venues throughout the twin towns.

More than 50 artists performed across 20 venues for the four-day festival.

The list included traditional favourites such as 19-Twenty, Sweet Felicia and The Honeytones, Matt Katsis and Frank Sultana.

One of the headline acts, Karise Eden, the inaugural winner of The Voice! Australia, wowed audiences at Hopwood Gardens with a pair of performances on Saturday and yesterday.

More than 400 people were on hand for Eden’s Saturday performance alone.

Others took to the Pevensey, where Cass Eager treated the audience to a fun afternoon after an earlier performance from Ian Collard.

Hat Fitz and Cara wooed the crowd at the Bridge Hotel, with a melodic, almost Led Zeppelin sound humming through the audience.

The Paramount Theatre hosted the Songwriters Studio event, with a group of talented teens showing their wares.

Major venues such as the Shamrock Hotel, Bridge Hotel, American Hotel and Star of the Wharf welcomed sizeable crowds.

The second instalment of the Winter Blues @ The Races, held at the Echuca Racing Club on Friday, was also a terrific success, with large crowds packing into the racecourse pavilion.

The festival, which was originally developed as a way to bring tourists to the region at a traditionally quiet time of the year, certainly did just that in 2023.

No vacancy signs were seen throughout Echuca-Moama with motels at full capacity.

Families enjoyed the festivities, especially at the weekend, with the Winter Blues Arts and Raft tent, jumping castle and circus performers proving popular.