The final

BLUESFEST 2018

playing schedule has arrived!

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Bluesfest is proud to present the final playing schedule for what’s going to be one of their most exciting and dynamic festivals yet. This year’s line up features a rich depth of talent, the likes of which have never been seen in Australia before.

Each of the five days at Bluesfest features some of the world’s greatest artists, performing just 10 minutes north of Byron Bay. For example, on Thursday Soul sensation Leon Bridges and Rock n Rollers Gomez will open the festival. Friday night brings the voice of Led Zeppelin Robert Plant, and RnB icon Ms. Lauryn Hill – a truly incredible double bill. Saturday features Bluesfest fan favourite Michael Franti and Spearhead as well as beloved singer/songwriter Jackson Browne. Sunday at Bluesfest is truly jam packed with talent with Australian superstars Tash Sultana and John Butler Trio, as well as Sheryl Crow and Melissa Etheridge all playing on one not to be missed day! Monday finishes things off with the one and only Lionel Richie, Chic featuring Nile Rogers and Dan Sultan.

In total there are over 70 artists performing at Bluesfest 2018!  It’s no wonder they are the only Australian Music Festival to be nominated 6 times in a row for the Pollstar International Music Festival of the Year, and to win the NSW Tourism Award for Best Major Festival & Event three years in a row (giving Bluesfest entry into the illustrious NSW Tourism Hall of Fame).

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Bluesfest Director Peter Noble OAM on the launch of the highly anticipated 2018 playing schedule:

“It is always a great day in the rollout of Bluesfest, when we announce the playing schedule.

Everyone can then use whatever method they use, from Apps through to smoke signals to traverse the wonderful beast that is Bluesfest.

Will it be a contemporary tour you are coming to see? We have Rag ‘n’ Bone Man (who just won the BBC Album of the Year Award in the UK), Tash Sultana, Gomez, the incredible José González, Ásgeir, First Aid Kit, Harts, Holy Holy and many, many more…

Or maybe Americana/Jam Bands are more your style. Bluesfest 2018 will feature 2018 two-time Grammy winner Jason Isbell, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real (Neil Young’s band that everyone in the business is saying has next big thing written all over them) plus Warren Hayne’s Gov’t Mule, Hurray for the Riff Raff and more…

Or is it the Roots…you can see diamond standard legend such as Jimmy Cliff, The Wailers, South America’s Juanes (winner of 23 Latin Grammys!), and Brazil’s Seu Jorge, not to forget Africa’s greatest artist Youssou NDour…

Have we got you salivating yet?

WELL, LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING we have women here in force…from Ms. Lauryn Hill, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, All Our Exes Live in Texas, the mercurial Caiti Baker and Mia Dyson for starters.

First Australian artists include Dan Sultan, Yirrmal, Benny Walker, Eric Avery, Move it Mob Style plus loads of others at our Festival within a Festival; the beloved Boomerang and at other stages through the event.

You can also see many wonderful returning artists …from Steve Smyth through to The John Butler Trio and I’m just as excited about my new discoveries such as Elephant Sessions who just won Album of the Year at the BBC Scots Trad Music Awrds – think Celtic Cat Empire. The Teskey and Hanlon Brothers, Benjamin Booker and the guy who formed his first band together with PRINCE…Andre Cymone.

As always, we’ve got the legends…from Seal and Jackson Browne to the man who wrote (with Michael Jackson) We Are The World, take a bow Mr Lionel Richie!

Of course there’s plenty of Blues too…starting with the 2017 Blues Grammy Winner Bobby Rush, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats who have been nominated for a record-breaking seven Blues Music Awards! Plus Joe Louis Walker, Eric Gales and Chain performing on their 50th Anniversary tour and Canned Heat too. We are also so happy to have the Original Blues Brothers Band returning, those who were there in who were with us in 2016 know just how fantastic their closing set that year was!

For those who want to dance we have Funk and R&B as well. From Prince’s Band. NPG (The New Power Generation), to Dumpstaphunk, Con Brio, Leon Bridges, plus the incomparable Ms. Lauryn Hill.

And that’s nowhere near everything! I feel this is one of the best bills I’ve ever booked. Now is the time to sit down and decide who you will see, who you won’t …. or how much of an artist’s set you will see, before you run to another stage.

Well, that’s Bluesfest. I’m proud of what we have coming for you.” Peter Noble OAM

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With back to back performances for 12 hours a day on multiple stages, a gourmet variety of food stalls, markets, on site camping and parking, Bluesfest 2018 will be a haven for music lovers of all ages this Easter long weekend from Thursday 29 March to Monday 2 April. Tickets are selling fast so organisers warn music lovers to get theirs now to avoid disappointment. 

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