Overview
Start making Easter plans: Bluesfest is returning for 2023. From Thursday, April 6–Monday, April 10, the iconic annual festival will hit up Byron Events Farm at Tyagarah for its 34th event — with Elvis Costello, Mavis Staples, Bonnie Raitt and Gang of Youths leading the bill.
Also heading to northern New South Wales as part of the five-day lineup: Jackson Browne, Tash Sultana, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Jimmy Barnes with The Barnestormers, and Talib Kweli, GZA and Big Freedia as special guests of The Soul Rebels.
As usual, Bluesfest's roster of talent spans a hefty array of music genres — blues and roots, obviously, but also soul, rock, hip hop, R&B and more — with Beth Hart, Buddy Guy, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and The Dukes, The Cat Empire and Xavier Rudd also set to take to the stage. Rockwiz Live will be doing its thing, too, in the perfect setting.
And, would it be a Bluesfest without Michael Franti & Spearhead? In 2023, you won't need to find out.
While all of the above and more were named in Bluesfest's first announcement, the second added Allison Russell, The Doobie Brothers, Counting Crows, Vintage Trouble, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and St Paul & the Broken Bones.
Organisers are calling the 2023 fest "the first original-style Bluesfest since the world's borders re-opened". While the event went ahead in 2022 after two years of pandemic cancellations (and a thwarted temporary move to October for the same reason), it showcased a primarily Australian and New Zealand lineup. With the return of international travel, Bluesfest can welcome top-notch acts from around the globe again.
BLUESFEST 2023 LINEUP — FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT:
19-Twenty
Allison Russell
The Barnestormers
Beth Hart
The Black Sorrows
Bonnie Raitt
Buddy Guy
The Cat Empire
Chain
Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram
Counting Crows
The Doobie Brothers
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Eric Gales
Femi Kuti & The Positive Force
Gang of Youths
Greensky Bluegrass
Jackson Brown
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
Joe Bonamassa
Joe Camilleri Presents: A Star-Studded Tribute to the Greats of the Blues
Jon Stevens
Kaleo
Keb' Mo' Band
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Lachy Doley and The Horns of Conviction
Larkin Poe
Lp
Lucinda Williams
Marcus King
Mavis Staples
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nightsweats
Nikki Hill
Robert Glasper
Rockwiz Live
The Soul Rebels & Friends with special guests Talib Kweli, GZA and Big Freedia
Southern Avenue
Spinifex Gum featuring Marliya
Steve Earle & The Duke
St Paul & The Broken Bones
Tash Sultana
Vintage Trouble
Xavier Rudd