Overview
Last spring, the inaugural Great Southern Nights saw more than 1000 gigs take place across 300 NSW venues. This push to return to live music managed to see COVID-safe gigs take place from bustling underground venues in the Sydney CBD, to vast amphitheatres in rural towns. Now, a 2022 edition of Great Southern Nights has just been announced and will hopefully see us all returning to catching our favourite local bands live.
This time around, the gigs will be popping up throughout March and April and the first six artists have been announced. Indie pop sensation Amy Shark, Yolngu rapper Baker Boy and DJ duo Peking Duk will join Australian music royalty Jimmy Barnes, Missy Higgins and Jessica Mauboy on the lineup, with a heap more artists set to be announced soon.
Last year saw more than 75,000 tickets sold across the 1100 gigs. "Great Southern Nights was designed with COVID-safety in mind, supporting shows of all sizes, in all kinds of live music venues, and giving the industry a leg up to get back to work," Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said.
Destination NSW
The NSW Government is hoping the return of this initiative alongside its recent live music and arts support package will help the industry recover from what has been a disastrous 18 months. "The NSW Government has delivered a range of support measures to businesses and individuals to lessen the impact of the latest COVID-19 restrictions, and earlier this year we delivered the $24 million Live Music Support Package to 162 venues demonstrating our commitment to the sector," said Ayres.
If you run a venue and you want to apply to be part of Great Southern Nights you can do so via its website before Friday, October 8.
Great Southern Nights 2022 will run from Friday, March 18 until Sunday, April 10 throughout NSW.