By Grace Frost
The Whittlesea Country Music Festival is set to return for its 22nd year this weekend, bringing a plethora of family fun, entertainment, and, of course, plenty of country music.
The festival will kick off at 4pm on Friday with a cruise night featuring classic cars on Church Street, and music to follow from 5pm.
Friday night will also feature a launch event for the festival at Whittlesea Bowls Club, with highlights to include live music from five-piece band the Gami Gami Devils and twin pop-rock duo Pink Envy from 7.30pm.
The main event will be on Saturday at the Walker Reserve in Whittlesea, with gates open from 3pm.
Performances will kick off at 3.30pm with opening act Craig Lloyd, who was most recently awarded a prestigious songwriting award for local country artists at the Tamworth Country Music Festival for his single ‘Take The Wheel’.
Headline act James Blundell is sure to have local fans singing along to his hits including ‘Way Out West’ and ‘Down On The Farm’.
Whittlesea Country Music Festival vice president David Watson said the talent-packed artist line up would also feature Melody Moko, Iain Archibald Band and Mitch King.
“We like to claim we discovered Mitch King,” he said.
“He’s back for the first time probably in about five years. He’s a very talented, young man.”
Mr Watson said the festival was a great opportunity for family fun and entertainment.
“There’ll be carnival rides and things for the kids, there’s food trucks and it’s just one of those rare occasions where everybody actually just gets together and has a good time,” he said.
The event is free and designed to be a fun, family night out.
But Mr Watson said attendances and continued support were vital to the survival of the festival in its current form.
“The thing that is making it more and more difficult for us is our funding’s not increasing at the same pace as inflation, so it’s making it harder and harder to put the show together,” he said.
“We’re endeavoring to make sure it stays free. It’s just a great family night.”
For more information on the festival, people can visit the Whittlesea Country Music Festival Facebook page.
The Whittlesea Country Music Festival team are also on the lookout for committee members to assist in the organising of the festival each year.
To express their interest in joining the committee, people can contact Whittlesea Country Music Festival president Anthony Holding on 0408 349 392.
