Thousands turn out for 2024 Blues at Bridgetown festival as organisers ‘blown away’ by positive feedback

It was a busy three days in Bridgetown at the weekend as the town transformed into a music lover’s paradise. Thousands of South West residents and visitors descended on the community between Friday and Sunday for this year’s Blues at Bridgetown festival. Dozens of acts performed during the three days, with a close to capacity crowd enjoying headliner John Butler perform on Saturday. Artists were divided across a number of venues, ranging from The Cidery and Willow Whispers to Memorial Park and Hampton Street. Blues at Bridgetown chairperson Jacky Brody estimated 15,000 people attended, with ticket sales about 20 per cent higher than last year. She described this year’s event as “absolutely amazing”. “There were lots of happy patrons (and) really positive feedback from everybody involved,” Ms Brody said. “We were blown away with the positivity and lots of new people coming this year.” This year saw Blues at Bridgetown take on a refresh as it diversified its offering from its namesake music style to attract newer, younger audiences and ensure the event’s longevity. The organising committee had more than 250 applications from artists to perform at the festival, which then had to be narrowed down to about 50 final performers across the weekend. Attendance by some of this year’s festivalgoers proved to be a happy accident, with Ms Brody noting confusion with the ending of the Byron Bay Bluesfest leading some to Bridgetown thinking it would be their last festival. “They decided they needed to come this year so they didn’t miss out on the experience, and (they’re) going to be coming back next year and many more years after because they loved it so much,” she said. The feedback from the Bridgetown community has also been positive, Ms Brody said, with some long-term residents telling organisers it was “the best Blues we have ever run” in its more than 30-year history. The festival would not have been possible without the help of more than 200 volunteers, who provide their time before, during and after the event. Duties for volunteers varied from administration and ticketing to master of ceremonies duties and manning the bars. Ms Brody said volunteers came from the local area and beyond. “We have return volunteers from Perth,” she said. “We’ve actually got one from over east at the moment. She was in the area, saw the festival and decided to come and volunteer, and has been an amazing volunteer.” Ms Brody thanked the committee, volunteers and all those involved for their work to make this year’s festival possible, with the organisers set to have some downtime before ramping up preparations for the 2025 event early next year.