THE ever-popular October Moon jazz festival which has been held on the banks of Lake Fred Tritton in Richmond for the last seven years has been given a makeover this year with a new name, date and musical content in store.
The newly coined Outback Moon Festival will now take place on Saturday September 13, from 5pm to 12pm with Cairns-based singer Tony George taking centre stage with a Neil Diamond Tribute show.
Festival organiser Kacie Lord said that after seven years of battling the heat in October it was time for a change.
“The dreadful heat of last October nearly killed us all so we decided to move the festival to a cooler month,” she said.
“Hopefully we don’t freeze instead,” she joked.
“This year we have also moved away from the jazz genre which has been the primary sound of the festival since its inception.
Ms Lord said the committee went with Neil Diamond because he is universally loved.
“Anyone over 50 can sing along to most of his songs, while anyone under 50, if they haven’t been tortured all their lives by their parents playing his records, will probably know his music from films such as Pulp Fiction ‘Girl You’ll be a Woman Soon’, Oceans 12 ‘Cracklin Rosie’ or Shrek ‘I’m a Believer”.
Jazz won’t be totally forgotten though with Mt Isa-based 21 piece band Bandana playing through the night.
She said the main aim of the festival is to raise money for musical education in the Richmond community.
“To date we have 12 piano students and a childrens choir and we help run workshops around any musical education and sponsor any music coming to town.
The festival commences at 5pm with complimentary cocktails put on by major sponsor Coutts Redington Chartered Accountants, followed by a kid’s concert starting at 6.15pm, before the main event begins at 7.30pm all the way through until midnight.
“So we’ve had a name change, a date change and have switched musical genres, but it’ll still be a great night of entertainment just like before.”
