Earthquakes, violence in the streets, Covid numbers climbing … what else can go wrong?
Well, as many of us no doubt anticipated, the jazz and blues won’t be happening at Wangaratta again this year due to the vaccination targets agreed on by national cabinet not being attainable in time.
However, the good news is that the National Jazz Awards will proceed as online concerts and that the festival promises to return in the flesh on Cup weekend in 2022. That’s cause to celebrate, surely.
Here’s the announcement posted on the wangarattajazz.com website:
“In light of the continuing COVID restrictions, organisers of the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues have made the decision not to proceed with the 2021 festival, however the much-loved National Jazz Awards, a highlight of the event, will be presented in a series of free online concerts from 29 – 31 October 2021.
The 10 National Jazz Awards finalists will be announced at the end of September along with details of the online schedule. The awards, which feature piano this year, have attracted strong interest from across Australia.
The Wangaratta Festival of Jazz & Blues plans to return in 2022 to its traditional long weekend dates leading up to the Melbourne Cup. The program will be announced in April at a special launch event in Wangaratta.
We thank our audiences and artists and look forward to returning live in 2022.”
Ausjazz Blog 