The most happening place to be this pre-Melbourne Cup long
weekend is the
Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues. You can jazz it up or groove to some very good blues from Friday October 28th to Monday October 31st.
It's Australia's premier jazz and blues event and it promises to be brimming with a jam-packed
program of more than 75 events featuring both our very own home grown artists and a host of international guests.
Aussie greats include include Paul Grabowsky and Sandy Evans playing for the first time as a duo, James Muller, Mark Isaacs, Ted Vining's Impressions, Elliott Dalgleish and Allan Browne.
Renowned overseas artists who'll be descending on the lovely rural city of Wangaratta include: American trombonist-composer, Josh Roseman; brilliant Cuban pianist, Fabian Almazan; French solo bass pioneer, Barre Phillips; and gifted multi-instrumentalist, Peter Apfelbaum, from the USA.
If blues is more your thing, head over the Ovens River to the
Blues Marquee. See renowned US guitarist and singer Jimmy D Lane, son of Chicago blues great, Jimmy Rogers. You'll also love Jim Conway's Big Wheel, Collard Greens & Gravy, Blue Heat, and Paul Williamson's Hammond Blues Revue with special guests Chris Wilson, Shannon Bourne, Ella Thompson and James Black.
Leave plenty of time to enjoy all that the
Wangaratta has to offer, including a bustling market, the region's renowned
food and wine, and the Victorian High Country's sensational spring landscape.
