Adelaide is truly the City of Music and will be hosting Music SA’s Umbrella Festival from Friday 1 July until Sunday 31 July. Starting today, over 200 live music events will take place across South Australia marking the sixth festival incarnation in the state.
The annual winter celebration of live music will be held over 31 nights in 90+ venues spanning Adelaide’s CBD, metropolitan suburbs and South Australia’s regional areas, including the Eyre Peninsula, the Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island and the Limestone Coast.
In an effort to support local venues through post-pandemic recovery, free opening night parties will be held at NOLA, The Crown and Anchor, Grace Emily Hotel and JIVE curated by local promoters. Popular New Orleans inspired bar NOLA will host an acoustic folk and alley-jazz fuelled night curated by local troubadour Aidan ‘Jazzy’ Jones. Iconic live music venue The Crown and Anchor will turn into a raucous affair of psych-rock and delicious riffs thanks to Going Steady Music. The Grace Emily Hotel will be offering contemporary folk and blistering indie pop hand-picked by the wonderful vocalist Cookie Baker. And finally, SAM Awards 2021 Best Venue winner JIVE will be singing songs of indie rock presented in a safe space for all to enjoy thanks to conscious, young event promoters Best of Friends.
Music lovers are spoiled for choice with the 2022 Umbrella Festival program which is packed full of open-access live music performances and exhibitions spread across the state, as well as a curated selection of performances in the Adelaide CBD.
Umbrella Festival 2022 aims to propel the recovery of the South Australian live music sector and returns in 2022 with the support of the South Australian Government through the Music Development Office and Events South Australia. With a focus on providing tangible opportunities for South Australian live music professionals, Umbrella Festival is looking forward to assisting the recovery of the State’s live music industry after the COVID-19 pandemic caused live music event cancellations and industry-wide devastation.
“We encourage music lovers to get out and enjoy the range of local talent on display over the next month at more than 90 venues across the state, from venues in Adelaide’s CBD to regional areas, including the Eyre Peninsula, the Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island and the Limestone Coast.”
– Minister for Arts, The Hon Andrea Michaels MP
Festival highlights include; LGBTQIA+ inclusive event Queer Club (presented by Pretty Good Thanks and hosted by fabulous Drag Queen Ophelia Butt), highlighting five incredible Australian queer artists. First Nations Voices, presented by Glenn Skuthorpe, Nancy Bates and Vonda Last at Nexus Arts and Home in The Hyperreal, a multidisciplinary exploration by visual artists, musicians, and dancers from arts and culture collective MUD in Adelaide’s popular artist-run underground dive bar Ancient World, just to name a few!
In 2021, Umbrella Festival had over 55.6K attendances which generated $1.8 million for South Australia. Umbrella Festival has continually strengthened the popularity of South Australia’s vibrant arts scene during the winter months since its inception in 2016. View the entire Umbrella Festival program here.
