LIMESTONE Coast residents will dust off their dancing shoes in the post-COVID world at a new addition to the region’s arts calendar.
The inaugural Penola Coonawarra Music Festival is scheduled to launch in March 2021, showcasing a range of local, South Australian and interstate musicians at the three-day event.
Following the end of the long-running Frances Folk Gathering last year, which attracted a large number of acoustic music lovers to the region for more than two decades, a small and passionate group decided to introduce a similar music festival at McCorquindale Park.
Committee member Ann Miller is joined by four other keen organisers who hope the festival will entertain a large crowd of Limestone Coast residents.
“We have been organising the festival for around 10 months now and we want it to be for those within the Limestone Coast, not specifically to bring other people here,” Ms Miller said.
“We are going to base it around the local community, but it will also be fantastic for the district and for everybody who attends it.”
The event is planned to start on Friday, March 12 2021 and will run until Sunday, March 14, with camping available to patrons for the duration.
“Given the fabulous facilities here, we should be able to host a massive and entertaining event which many would be happy to have,” Ms Miller said.
“We are hoping it brings an appreciation of acoustic music to the community and bring people together to play and enjoy it.
“There are a lot of genres which can be played with acoustic music and people just love these kinds of events.
“This region has a lot of music and an appreciation for it.”
Ms Miller hoped to include a school children’s program on the festival’s first day to facilitate a mentoring program between aspiring artists and experienced musicians.
“We want to set it up for younger people who are really interested in music so they can speak to experienced musicians and people who have made music and learn about where to go and how to do it all,” Ms Miller said.
“If this is successful we then want the younger generation to take over the organisation of the event.”
