THE Queenscliff Music Festival celebrated 20 years, pulling off a birthday spectacular that had the scenic seaside village bursting with performances, activities, eating, drinking, merrymaking and more good times than ever before.
The sun shone bright and music rang through the festival arena and out throughout the town from break of day and well into the night across the festival weekend.
Gliding high on the success of its first ever ticket sell out, festival organisers delivered an extraordinary program with highlights as diverse as Australian music icons Peter Garrett and Paul Kelly, international mega star Ben Harper, and reformations from crowd favourite ’90s hit machines Killing Heidi and George.
As always the festival offered audiences a chance to discover something new, including the pint-sized US powerhouse Julien Baker on her debut Australian tour who had audiences in awe with her hypnotic vocals and solo guitar performance.
Having recently shot to international acclaim, NSW dreamy indie pop alt country singer Julia Jacklin performed her first ever Queenscliff show and proved why she’s been dubbed by Rolling Stone as one of their “Future Is Now” artists.
Canadian Matt Anderson was another newcomer to the QMF stage and its unlikely that anyone who caught his spine-tingling show will forget it anytime soon.
The QMF Comedy Show was back with a vengeance and performances by Dave O’Neill, Denise Scott, Dilruk Jayasinha and Anne Edmonds, had the Sunday morning crowds roaring with laughter.
Comedy heroes the Doug Anthony Allstars took to the main stage on Saturday and their unforgettable brand of anti PC humour reminded us all why they are Australia’s most original and most enduring comedy rock stars.
The kids arena was once again a huge hit for young and old, with carnival rides, shows and activities on offer throughout the weekend, all aptly situated next to one of the main stages so that parents could catch some fine tunes while the kids did their thing. Roving performers including the Snuff Puppets were a sight to behold, as their gigantic human and seagulls forms swooped in among the crowds.
With nearly 100 acts performing across the three days, QMF had their birthday cake and ate it too, yet again bringing a laid back party vibe and endless array of things to do and see.
Punters of all ages pulled up a rug to stretch out in the sun, chowed down on delicious local food provisions, sipped on some fine local wines and craft beers, and danced it off at the Ozone Lounge or at one of the many stages and venues throughout the festival zone.
Adding to the celebrations, Queenscliff Music Festival won Gold in the Festival and Events catagory at the 2016 Victorian Tourism Awards.
