The Girrakool Blues Festival is set to return to The Entrance in 2025 bigger, better and brighter with high hopes that more than 10,000 people will flock to Memorial Park over the weekend of April 28-March 2.
Festival director Bruce Johnson said the event had already raised interest from thousands of people both local and nationally.
The three-day festival will be free thanks to being announced as one of the 66 recipients of the NSW Government’s 2024/25 Regional Event Fund.
It has also attracted funding from Destination NSW because 60 per cent of attendees are from out of area.
Member for The Entrance David Mehan said the funding would the help event organisers bring their vision to life and make a valuable contribution to the local visitor economy.
“I’m thrilled that the Girrakool Blues has received this funding from the NSW Government,” Mehan said.
“This will help them deliver an event that The Entrance can be proud of and attract visitors to fill our hotels, restaurants and visitor attractions, which will play a key role in stimulating the local visitor economy.
“The Entrance has some of the best visitor experiences in the country and events like the Girrakool Blues play an important role in showcasing the diversity of our region and driving visitation, which helps sustain local businesses and create more jobs.”
Minister for Jobs and Tourism John Graham said $1.3M from the Regional Event Fund would play an important role in supporting the events industry and building the state’s vibrant offering of cultural and sporting event experiences.
“We want to help these events reach the heights of the Deni Ute Muster or the Parkes Elvis Festival both now highlights of the NSW calendar,” he said.
“These events reflect the personalities of their communities and draw visitors from all over the country.”
Johnson said the 2023 festival attracted more than 7,000 visitors.
“We had people from Cairns, Victoria and a lot from Newcastle,” he said.
“We have already started talking about the 2025 event and we’ve got thousands of people who have said they want to go.
“We will easily get to 10,000, maybe 12,000.”
About 22 artists – international, national and local – will grace the stage over the three days.
“We are a not-for-profit organisation so that means more funding which means the event is free for everyone,” he said.
“But we are always on the lookout for more sponsors to make it bigger, better and brighter”.
Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor can email info@girakoolblues.com.au