THE return of the Mountaingrass Festival to Bright this month surpassed all expectations, with the 2024 event almost doubling last year’s numbers, welcoming close to 600 attendees.
Festival secretary Helen Ludellen said Bright seems to be the perfect location for the bluegrass and American old time music event.
“With so many caravan parks very close to the action and a lot of other accommodation for all budgets, plus our three great venues, we’re putting down our success to a range of factors,” she said.
“The Bright Community Centre, the Senior Citizens and the Bright Courthouse Theatre all have a great acoustic which is perfect for the styles of music which are played on acoustic instruments with minimal amplification.
“Our patrons came from all over Australia including Tasmania and Western Australia, along with a contingent from New Zealand who come every year.
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“We also usually attract some international visitors as well.”
Concerts were held each afternoon and evening including two acoustic concerts held at the Bright Courthouse Theatre.
“They were very well attended and especially on Friday night when the main venue, the Bright Community Hall, almost reached capacity,” Ms Ludellen said.
“We were very pleased to have Pete Denahy from Yackandandah play with his friends Hiroki Maeta and Montz Matsumoto in his Wide Island band.
“We also welcomed back the Davidson Brothers who had performed many times when the festival was still at Harrietville.
“We were thrilled to have our favourite band from across the ditch in NZ; the Pipi Pickers, back again at Mountaingrass this year.
“Our headline acts from the US were very well received; High Fidelity, with their tight gospel harmonies knocked us out.
“And, we blame the slight overcrowding on Friday night for the fact that every member of Ashlee and Dan Watkins’ extended family had turned up to see Ashlee perform with her US based band the Alum Ridge Boys and Ashlee and brother Dan Watkins in two bands; the Davidson Brothers and Pete Denahy and Wide Island.”
But Mountaingrass is not just about concerts, attendees are invited to a range of workshops for beginners, emerging or experienced musicians.
“There were over 30 workshops held over the weekend, which were very well attended,” Ms Ludellen said.
“The guided slow jams held out under the trees by the creek at the Bright Community Centre were very popular with participants and spectators alike, as were the many spontaneous jams that happened all weekend everywhere where a group of musos could gather.
“Mountaingrass encourages emerging players to gain experience in performing in public and developing.
“Aside from our Young Performer Grant, which was awarded this year to Holly Dunn, we run a performance skills workshop over two days that culminates in a final performance on the main stage on Sunday.
“We also run a walk up stage where anyone can come and do a short performance and several slow jams for beginners and emerging players that are led by an experienced musician or band. “Our inaugural songwriting competition attracted many entrants and the standard of entries was very high.
“Karen Lynne was our winner with ‘Out there on the road’ and runner up was Ben Thomas with ‘I’ll be going back there next year’.”
The festival will also be coming back next year, according to Ms Ludellen, so pencil in November 14 to 16, 2025.
