Bluesfest – the festival they couldn’t kill
Reports of the death of Bluesfest appear to be exaggerated after a successful festival this year and another big one planned for 2026.
Easter seems to be the best time of year for Bluesfest. Talk about resurrection, this festival has risen from the dead time and time again, as this Australian-owned celebration of live music will be back in 2026.
Music lovers from across the country came together this Easter to celebrate what Bluesfest fans and the music community have always known – that live music and this much-loved festival are worth standing behind.
“We’ve had the highest attendance of any Australian festival since pre-COVID at 109,000 attendances – the third-biggest event we’ve done in the history of the festival … festivals are back,” announced Bluesfest director Peter Noble. “We’re the top-selling festival in the country, and we’ve worked hard to get here.”
Noble says the Bluesfest team has been humbled by the overwhelming support received from both artists and fans since the announcement that 2025 might be the final year. “That support means Bluesfest fans have kept this dream alive,” he says.
This year’s four-day showcase of great artists was a virtual sellout, with the biggest-ever opening night crowd pouring through the festival gates. The 2025 artist roll call perfectly illustrated Bluesfest’s deft knack of assembling the past, present and future of live performance. Bluesfest always seeks to tip its hat to the greats and showcase the next wave of consummate performers.
The future is more than alright, according to Noble, who says it’s in electrifying hands – young Australian artists and busking-stage graduates, like Tones and I, who reminded the packed Crossroads tent of her humble beginnings when she pointed to the nearby Buskers stage – the very stage where she first performed at Bluesfest.
Noble’s special mentions across the festival – beyond the headliners – include The Pierce Brothers, the reformation of The Beards, Kim Churchill, Nahko, Fools, Eric Stang, RY X, Sweet Talk, 19-Twenty, Roshani, WILSN and Clarence Bekker.
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Adding to the sense of musical legacy, Birren – an emerging Indigenous artist – won the 2025 Busking Competition. Torin Peat, 14, was the grommet winner, offering a glimpse into a future that’s clearly going to be big for both.
“The finalists showed there is so much incredible young talent coming up, and the standard was as high or higher than recent years,” says Noble.
Maoli brought the spirit of the Pacific from Hawaii to our shores, captivating audiences with a blend of roots, reggae, and soul, while a special mention must go to The Pierce Brothers, whose energetic performance lit up the festival.
‘You simply won’t find a collection of guitar legends like this on any single day in Australia’
And then there were the legends: Chaka Khan and Hilltop Hoods didn’t just raise the roof – they launched it into orbit – with a scheduled landing date around Easter 2026.
Teenage guitar supremo Taj’s Bluesfest performances were among the greatest. And guitar star with a purpose, Tom Morello, amped up crowds on Thursday and Friday with his full-throttle, Rage Against the Machine-energised rally cry “to do and be better” in the face of dangerous times.
The Friday line-up was an unmissable day for guitar lovers and blues fans.
“You simply won’t find a collection of guitar legends like this on any single day in Australia,” Noble says. “With Steve Lukather (Toto) – one of the world’s most revered and prolific guitarists – George Thorogood bringing his signature Bad to the Bone energy and Gary Clark Jr, the Grammy-winning blues innovator with his fiery guitar work and deep, soulful vocals.
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“Add to that Tom Morello, a true guitar icon whose mind-bending solos have reshaped modern rock, plus the young stars of blues Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram and Australia’s own Taj Farrant and many more.”
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Chaka Khan
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Steve Lukather (Toto)
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Missy Higgins
Collaboration between musical mates – and there was plenty of it this year – has become another hallmark of Bluesfest. Taj Farrant joined Electric Cadillac for a searing rendition of Voodoo Chile, Minnie Marks jumped up to jam with Hussy Hicks and Kasey Chambers joined Vance Joy.
The next generation of live music artists and fans were also on show at Bluesfest 2025, from the stellar talent on the Buskers stage, led by this year’s grommet winner Torin Peat, to the musical progeny of some of the festival’s most-loved performers.
Kasey’s son Arlo and his band Motion Sickness performed as part of the busking contest while Bluesfest favourite and proud dad Ash Grunwald was joined onstage by daughter Sunny for a Bill Withers cover.
“She absolutely smashed it,” Grunwald says. “Out of all the Bluesfest moments I’ve had, this just might be my favourite.”
There were plenty of happy feet across the four days too, with high-energy made-for-dancing shows from Cimafunk, Here Come the Mummies, Melbourne Ska Orchestra and The Cat Empire.
Bluesfest was the only place in Australia fans could see freaky funky funsters Here Come The Mummies and Cimafunk – along with Neal Francis, The California Honeydrops and Melody Angel,who all played exclusive Bluesfest-only shows.
Vance Joy and Crowded House led dreamy sing-alongs under the big tops on Saturday, while Australian all-stars Missy Higgins, John Butler and Hilltop Hoods had the joint jumping for the Sunday night finale.
Tickets for the four-day Bluesfest 2026, April 2-5, are on sale now.