Bluesfest turns 30 with Jack Johnson, Ben Harper exclusives

Jack Johnson, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals and US soul act St Paul and the Broken Bones have been announced as festival exclusives for the 30th Byron Bay Bluesfest, set for 18–22 April 2019.

“Our 30th anniversary Bluesfest will be a major event in a long line of great festivals,” says festival director Peter Noble. “We will only turn 30 once, and we intend to make this edition truly memorable.

“We have two of our most highly requested, as well as favourite artists ever, headlining, and both coming for exclusive performances. Jack Johnson will return for his first performance since 2014 – except for when he is in the area surfing and sitting in with friends – and Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals [for their first] since 2015, when they reformed after a seven-year hiatus, and played their premier festival performance at Bluesfest.

“Ben Harper’s first performance at Bluesfest 1996 remains one of the most important in the history of our event, and actually gave us the inspiration to move out of being a purely blues festival and evolving into being Australia’s first blues and roots music festival…”

“We will only turn 30 once, and we intend to make this edition truly memorable”

Also on the bill for Bluesfest 30 are Ray LaMontagne, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Snarky Puppy, Arlo Guthrie, I’m With her and Kurt Vile, with more to be announced in the coming months.

Bluesfest has averaged an attendance of around 105,000 over the past few years, and Noble says the festival is on course for its best event ever in year 30.

“We have broken all ticket sales records and anticipate a sell-out for Bluesfest 2019 already, so don’t delay: get your tickets now,” he says. “And thank you for coming with us on this incredible journey. Whether this is your first Bluesfest, or 30th, we promise you, the talent on our stages will always be the best we can present.”

Bluesfest 2019 takes place from Thursday 18 to Monday 22 April at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

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