02 · GALLERY
Five frames.
Bluesfest runs Easter weekend on a 120-hectare tea-tree farm 11 km north of Byron Bay. Six big-top tents pitched in rows on rolling sub-tropical pasture, the Pacific Ocean a paddock away. The tea-tree plantation gives the whole site a medicinal-herb smell at dawn that becomes part of the listening. The Crossroads Tent is the smallest and where the late-night gospel sets happen. Locals queue for those, not the headliners. Bonnie Raitt, John Mayall, Mavis Staples, the Buena Vista Social Club all played the Crossroads at 23:30 over the years. Australia's deepest blues programming.
The Crossroads Tent (smallest) is where the late-night gospel sets happen. Locals queue for those, not the headliners.
A festival where the smell of the land is part of the listening experience.
Annual, four days Easter weekend (March or April depending on year). Friday is the soft open, Saturday and Sunday are the headline days, Monday closes. North NSW autumn is the comfortable season.
Annual four-day festival, Easter weekend. Gates open 12:00 each day, music to 23:00 nightly. Camping on site at Tyagarah; book accommodation in Byron Bay months ahead.
Fly Ballina (BNK), 15 minutes drive north to Tyagarah, or Gold Coast (OOL), 90 minutes drive south. Festival shuttle buses from Byron Bay town. Camping on site for the duration.