The country’s longest running jazz festival has held out against declining festival crowds and cost-of-living pressures and is firmly cemented in the community, according to its artistic director.
Sydney’s Manly Beach recently transformed into a hub of music and dancing as thousands of jazz enthusiasts and locals gathered for a rich array of free performances across four stages and 15 venues.
Caroline Speight said the festival, which her father started 47 years ago, has become “a part of the culture of Manly”.
“It’s about bringing the community together, giving families and friends an opportunity to connect, and music is a great way of doing that,” Speight told Central News.
However, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Australian music festivals like Manly Jazz, particularly since the coronavirus pandemic.
“COVID did destroy a lot of budgets for festivals like this,” she said, adding that the main challenge when organising Manly Jazz was “sticking to a budget”.
“This is a free festival, so we’re not pressured to sell tickets, but it still costs to put it on. So there’s things like a stage behind me, we’ve had to take that away because we didn’t have the budget to put it on this year.”
Speight said Manly Jazz remained “a gift to the community” and continues to “appeal to the masses”.
With next year’s festival already locked in, she said she is excited to keep bringing “happy, lively, joyful music” to Manly.
Main image by Jessica O’Bryan.
