A juicy part of the line-up of the Surround Sounds Geelong and the Bellarine music festival has been revealed.
Adding to Victoria’s impressive range of music festivals already announced for 2022, Surround Sounds – Geelong & the Bellarine Music Festival is the adventurous new music festival that will strike a major note on the region’s annual cultural calendar with the likes of Aussie music legends Paul Kelly, Thelma Plum, The Rubens, Human Nature and more set to perform.
Debuting from April 7 until May 8 this year, the festival will take to stages across the city, coast and country of Geelong and the Bellarine, promoting our beautiful and thriving region as a place where music is celebrated, supported and happening, putting a spotlight on the music, the people, the places and the spaces of the City of Greater Geelong and the Bellarine.
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Alongside Paul Kelly, The Rubens, Thelma Plum and Human Nature, the region will also see performances from the likes of Kasey Chambers and Busby Marou, Children Collide, and Hard-Ons. Other acts lined up during the month include Nina Ferro and her Jazz Ensemble, Ajak Kwai and Gordon Koang, Bones and Jones, Fenn Wilson, Pollyman, Sirens, INXS tribute band INXSIVE and the Geelong Symphony Orchestra bringing artists, venues and audiences together in a celebration of all things music.
As part of the regional festival, Mt Duneed Estate will host a packed Easter Saturday line-up for a special edition of A Day on the Green, with modern Aussie favourites Lime Cordiale, Thelma Plum, Client Liaison and The Vanns heading up the previously announced Squeeze Festival.
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Hosting gigs in established venues, to intimate performances in secluded locations across Geelong and suburbs, as well as Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Drysdale and Portarlington, Surround Sounds – Geelong & the Bellarine Music Festival will bring life back to favourites including The Pier, Pistol Pete’s, Platform Arts, Ocean Grove Hotel and the Barwon Club Hotel and multiple other venues, among many others.
In a first for the region, the Melbourne Music Bus Tours will rebrand itself for Geelong as part of the festival to provide immersive local tours of musical hotspots, hosted by Adalita (Magic Dirt) and Mick Thomas (Weddings, Parties, Anything). This bus tour has made a name for itself in Melbourne as an almost four-hour tour of the city’s famous music venues, laneways, recording studios, rehearsal spaces, artists’ homes and important Indigenous music spots.
The vast music history of Geelong and the Bellarine will also be explored across a curated series of talks, visual art and live projections.
While all this is music to our ears, the City of Greater Geelong has hinted at even more to come, with Surround Sounds’ full program set to be announced on March 1. Mark that one in your diaries, we’re expecting some exciting news to come.
“The acts revealed today are amazing, with more to come when the full line-up is announced at the start of March,” COGG acting mayor Trent Sullivan said.
“This will be a sensational month-long celebration of music and the many iconic live music venues in Geelong and across the Bellarine. We can’t wait.”
Councillor Eddy Kontelj, who chairs the City’s arts, entertainment and hospitality portfolio, said the event would help revitalise Geelong’s live event industry.
“The council and our arts and culture team have been working hard to rejuvenate an industry so badly impacted over the past couple of years, and the arts, live entertainment and hospitality portfolio has been such a valuable vehicle to assist us with this,” Cr Kontelj said.
“Surround Sounds is another exciting and tangible example of this. As well as offering fantastic entertainment for visitors and locals, we hope it will help bring the vibrant atmosphere back to our hospitality sector and provide a lift for the local economy.
“The live acts and performers are top class and there is sure to be something to satisfy everyone’s taste in music. With our venues ready and welcoming, this is another step toward Geelong becoming the live entertainment hub of Australia.”
Read the announcement here.
The full program will be announced on March 1. For more info, visit www.surroundsoundsgeelong.com.au.
