The Melbourne Review

The 34th St Kilda Festival

February 2014

Australia’s largest annual music festival kicks off this weekend.

Now in its 34th year, the St Kilda Festival continues to expand its roots despite proudly holding the title of Australia’s largest annual music festival. The streets of Melbourne’s much-loved waterfront suburb will be lined again with people, music, food stalls and the frenetic atmosphere unique to St Kilda from this Saturday until February 9.

St Kilda is notorious for its rowdy live music scene and hundreds enter the festival’s Live N Local program each year to try and fight their way in. From February 2, upwards of six home-grown acts will play every day at a diverse range of venues. These include The South Melbourne Market, The George, The Limerick Arms and other retailers, cafes and stages around St Kilda, South Melbourne and Port Melbourne. The St Kilda Seabaths will also open the floor to Funkalleros, a reggae and Spanish rumba band and headlining at the Espy will be Soul Safari and Better than the Wizards.

As well as local up-and-comers St Kilda Festival gives great exposure to rising and established talent in Melbourne’s boarder Aboriginal community. For the ninth year running, the festival will be opened by Yalukit Wilum Ngargee: People Place Gathering. This cultural festival-within-a-festival presents the incredible diversity of work produced by Aboriginal and Torres Straight musicians, dancers and artisans. Headliners include blues and soul group, Buddy Knox Band, and Yirrmal and the Yolngu Boys, a band fronted by a coveted after and promising talent and decedent of both Geoffery Gurrumul Yunupingu and a past member of Yothu Yindi. The entire Indigenous program is free and is the biggest line-up of such talent in Victoria.

This year’s St Kilda Festival will sprawl across more than 32 venues with 72 gigs. For the past three decades the conclusive day of the festival – what is affectionately referred to as ‘Festival Sunday’ – has raked in crowds of up to 400,000. Roads close off and five stages pump tunes across the boulevard and beachfront. This colossal community event is one for all ages and feels almost as if carnival fever seeps out from the iconic Luna Park and takes over our entire south side.

St Kilda Festival
1-9 February, 2014
stkildafestival.com.au

Images
1. Daniel Lawson
4. Jim Lee
 

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