A group of music lovers and avid festival goers is determined Walcha shall have a regular music event to showcase local and non-local emerging and lesser-known artists.
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They have committed to launching this annual day of edgy culture on April 21, when the inaugural ‘Bobby Jack's Festival’, which is billed as Walcha's first festival of original music and performing arts, will be held at the Walcha Showground from 11 am to 11 pm.
Preparation is well underway with members of the festival committee investing their own money to make the first concert happen.
Leading the committee are Hugh and Stef Cook who moved to Walcha in 2010 from Sydney to run the property Gleneagles for Hugh’s father.
Stef said they both felt they wanted to contribute something back to the community that had become home.
“The idea was born out of a lack of performance space in the New England area,” said Ms Cook. “There is really nowhere for young bands to perform so we thought why not put something on in Walcha and have it all happen here.”
Hugh is also in the band ‘Foundlings’ who play what fellow band member and philosophy professor Adrian Walsh calls ‘our own distinctive brand of Walchan cow-punk’.
The pair has been refining the Foundlings musical style during the past five years of playing together and recording and will be one of the ten acts who will perform during the day.
Another local act will be Grimm Bros - the duo formerly known as Matt and Mish. Mish (aka Michael Luchich) is also a committee member, and his company Alternation has created the festival website. The logo and associated artwork have been designed by his wife Kate Durack, an accomplished artist and graphic designer.
Festival stalwart and former pom, Kit Dawson was involved in the free festival movement of the 1990s and was the founder of the Make A Green Team, a group that provides festival recycling and waste support services in the UK.
Mr Dawson said the name of the festival was inspired by Walcha grazier Bob Waugh who died from cancer in 2016.
“Bobby Jack was a local legend,” said Mr Dawson.
“Not the sort you read about in history books but the sort you bump into in the street, the kind that lights up your world. Bobby was a local farmer, artist, dreamer, doer and visionary who had a passion for festivals. He also hosted underground celebrations at his farming property on the edge of town.”
Tickets for the event will go on sale in two weeks.
Vanessa Arundale
Everyone has a story to tell and I like to help them do it.
Everyone has a story to tell and I like to help them do it.
