The Briagolong community will host the biennial Foothills Music Festival in September.
The weekend will be packed with workshops, performances, indigenous culture and the family-friendly community spirit that participants have come to expect from this event.
Organisers say there will be something for everyone at this year’s festival which will take place the weekend of September 21 to 23.
The festival first began in 1986 when a few local mothers got together to learn to play the tin whistle.
While it was originally formed to bring music into the lives of their families, it is now, 26 years later, attracting a much wider interest.
One of the key strengths of the festival is its appeal to a wide range of music lovers; from experienced to amateur musicians as well as those who don’t consider themselves musical at all.
The event is also well known for being family friendly, offering a wide range of workshops and performances for the whole family.
There will be specific workshops for children, youth and adults, as well as family and community workshops.
Children will be making music, singing, dancing and puppet making while adults can take in a tin whistle, taiko (Japanese) drumming or ukulele workshop.
There will also be workshops in singing, dance, percussion, song writing, guitar, indigenous dance and culture and much more.
A special feature of this year’s festival is the Summit Youth project, which brings renowned artists from Melbourne in MC’ing, percussion and dance, including break and hip hop.
These artists will conduct a week of workshops in local secondary schools leading up to the weekend, and the project will culminate in a youth specific site at the festival.
For those who wish to camp for the weekend, non-powered camping sites are available at the Quarry Reserve.
The weekend will kicks off with an open mic event on the Friday night, followed by a full weekend of music fun, including a family bush dance Saturday night with the Briagolong Bush Band, performances by FEVA Pitch and much more.
For information, a full program and to register email Heather at heathercoulston1@bigpond.com or phone 0427 520 206.
