Thanks for taking the time to read about our humble undertaking – the Bendigo Blues & Roots Music Festival. One of the main reasons we’ve gone the step of creating a newsletter, is to answer a few of the obvious questions being thrown around and to make sure everyone is aware of what we are trying to achieve, how and of course why.
One of the common questions I’m hearing second-hand is: “what is the money from the fundraisers going towards?”. The answer is: 1) to pay for the start up costs of forming Bendigo Blues & Roots Music Festival Inc. (registration as a not-for-profit organisation, obtaining ABN, etc.), booking Rosalind Park for November 26th and paying Public Liability Insurance for same, some promotional costs like banners, posters and such that have needed paying for. 2) as we are putting on a family-friendly, free-entry event in Rosalind Park on November 26th, we are not going to be recouping the cost of the show through ticket sales. Although we’re looking at numerous other ways to create income streams to draw on (because we ultimately intend for the festival to be self-sustaining in the long term), we are nonetheless relying heavily on sponsorship, in-kind support, government grants and the like. We are not content to just have our hands out though and wanted to show that we are willing to raise funds off our own bat as well. I believe this is having a positive effect when we are seeking sponsorship and other types of support.
When I first mentioned the idea of throwing a fundraiser show or two, to ensure that this festival gets kick-started in 2011, an overwhelming number of volunteers came out of the woodwork offering to perform, mix sound, lend PA gear (and lights, amps, etc) mind the door, and many other unseen but crucial jobs that needed doing.
The prevailing feeling amongst Bendigo’s local music community – and rightly so – is that this festival will belong to them. They are so keen to contribute to its establishment as it means the most to them to see this thing take root and grow over the coming years. What has been equally exciting for me though is the excitement and support shown by local businesses and the local media in embracing our plan for this festival. The fact that we are planning to use local service providers (exclusively where possible) seems to be really striking a chord with Bendigonians in general. Yes there will be artists and bands coming from all over to perform at our festival, but for as long as this festival runs, there will always be a place for local performers to take part and feature in front of the audiences who come along to enjoy the shows.
Some quick “Thank Yous”: To the Basement Bar for hosting numerous BB & RMF shows already; to the Newmarket Hotel who have been the longest continuous supporters of local original music in Bendigo in recent years and hosted one fundraiser and a couple of promotional shows already (we count on doing a lot more with the Newy over the coming months/years); to the Golden Vine for committing once again to hosting live music on a consistent basis and for hosting our fundraiser on February 5th (we look forward to your ongoing involvement with BB & RMF); to Dale Harris of Studio Ink for all your stupendous work on our logo, posters, flyers, banners, our forthcoming website and this newsletter; to M & J P.A. Hire for looking after us at the Newy fundraiser and other bits and pieces along the way; to Chris Meek for providing P.A. for multiple BB & RMF events; to Bendigo Community Telco for putting your hand up as our first confirmed corporate sponsor, to Bendigo Live Music Guide for doing that thing you do; to the Bendigo Advertiser (particularly Shane Worrell, Chris Pedler and Emma Sartori, who each show a passion for the local live music scene); to the Bendigo Weekly and b.entertained who have shown a full-on commitment to bringing the local scene into mainstream attention and have supported BB & RMF steadily from the get-go; to Bendigo Blues Club for your ongoing support and co-operation; to Pheonix FM and KLFM who’ve helped lift awareness of our planned festival and related events; to PlanBig.com who have been of enormous support and helped me take the plunge and go public with this idea in the first place. There are many other supporters and members of our ever-expanding team that deserve thanks and public praise… I’ll get to them all in due course though, or this newsletter will otherwise become a book!
Please keep your eyes and ears open for further updates and events that we’ll be hosting and collaborating on. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions relating to BB & RMF, please email us at bendigoblues@gmail.com We look forward to hearing from you.
