The eclectic acts at the Get Together Music Festival on 15 November will have everyone on their feet. Photo: Supplied.
What started as a reggae event for a bowling club to bring back some life and culture after COVID has evolved into a multi-genre music festival. Now in its fourth year, the Get Together Music Festival is spreading its wings and heading south.
The music festival will come to Murrah Hall, 14 km south of Bermagui, on 15 November.
Trumpet player and band leader Nick Garbett runs several bands including reggae force The Strides, world roots jazz group The Vampires and The Glider, one of the bands that will perform at the November festival.
Mr Garbett said the Get Together Festival was a post-COVID initiative.
“The Wombarra Bowling Club in the northern Illawarra was very keen to bring some life and culture back to the club and it approached me with the idea of running a reggae festival,” Mr Garbett said.
The area is The Strides’ home turf, and the band had put on countless big reggae events along that stretch of coast for many years.
“The bowlo wanted something like that at the club and that’s what sparked the idea of the festival,” Mr Garbett said. “I asked a good mate of mine, Colin Renton to join me on the adventure, and four years later we’re still going strong and every year it gets bigger and better.”
Nick Garbett plays the trumpet in the jazz band The Vampires. Photo: Supplied.
Mr Garbett has many links with the Far South Coast. The Strides has performed at the Murrah Hall most years since 2010. The Vampires has also played at the hall several times, and in recent years, at Four Winds.
As a result, Mr Garbett now has many close friends in the Bermagui area and with his parents living in Bermagui it has become his second home.
“I’ve also been chatting for years with Murrah Hall president Howard Stanley about bringing the festival to the hall,” Mr Garbett said. “It’s very exciting that now we’re finally at the point where we feel like we can pull it off.”
The festival is huge, playing across three stages with a diverse range of acts programmed. There is world music, blues, folk, jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop and electronic.
“Our main goal is just to program great acts and present a family-friendly and culturally diverse and positive event,” Mr Garbett said. Kids under 12 have free entry and parents are encouraged to bring the whole family to the all-ages festival.
The festival will also showcase First Nations musicians. A highlight is the Docker River Band from Kaltukatjara, a small desert community on the Western Australia/Northern Territory border. They sing in Pitjantjatjara and English. The Docker River Band will also perform at Giiyong Festival on 22 November.
Another renowned First Nations performer is singer-songwriter Dale Huddleston.
“We also have local legend Gabadu from Wallaga Lake performing,” Mr Garbett said. “Gabadu has become a good friend of The Strides and we’ve had the pleasure of performing with him many times over the years.”
The Docker River Band from the Northern Territory is performing at the Get Together Music Festival. Photo: Supplied.
Another local legend Benji is in the mix, along with The Glider, Lux Trevis, Haztet, Abby Constable with her project Slumba Party, Godriguez, Freya Staer, Jordan Ireland and Levos, a DJ who will see out the night inside the hall after the music on the two outdoor stages has wound up.
Milton-based gypsy folk mega band The Condiments is another festival highlight. The number of musicians in the band varies from 4 to 11, playing a spicy fusion of funk, gypsy jazz, folk and swing.
Mr Garbett hopes the Get Together Music Festival becomes an annual fixture on the Far South Coast live music calendar.
“For the majority of the musicians performing, this festival will be the first time they have played in the area,” he said. “I love the idea that it will spark a connection with the area and the community and hopefully they’ll come back to play many times in the future.”
He also sees the festival as an opportunity for artists from different backgrounds and musical journeys to meet and collaborate.
The Get Together Music Festival is a unique chance to experience an incredibly diverse, culturally rich, high-quality line-up of acts all in one day.
Gates open at noon on 15 November. Music kicks off at 1 pm and continues until late. More information about the line-up and tickets can be found at the festival website.
