With the current social distancing requirements and restrictions set to remain in place for the foreseeable future, the Yarra Council is backing the live music scene through the coronavirus pandemic and taking Leaps & Bounds Music Festival to the digital world in June.
Coined, Apart and Not Alone, this year’s event will see Yarra’s live music artists, venues, studios, record stores, music labels, community radio stations and community organisations to present a 10-day festival in June 2020 across as many online platforms as possible.
The festival will work directly with the music community to showcase the live music industry in new and creative ways, while continuing to showcase music in all its forms, with new and old musical expressions, new and old ways of presenting music. This means isolation-friendly events within the festival can be everything from digital music performances and workshops, to history tours, online music exhibitions and jam sessions, or even yoga or cooking with musicians.
The festival program will also promote venues, showcasing the history and endurance of established venues, and the diversity and invention of newer venues.
To further bolster the local music community, the Yarra Council will be offering participating programmers a cash boost, while presenters can opt to host ticketed events or ask for donations.
Leaps & Bound is a festival that will always be a celebration of the local music scene, for – and by – the local music industry. While the need for physical distancing will change the way it is presented, we can guarantee that the heart of the festival will remain the same.
Leaps and Bounds 2020 – Apart and Not Alone is happening from June 11 – 27. Find out more here.
Photo by Naomi Lee Beveridge
