by Silly McWiggles
April 28, 2021
When Bluesfest was cancelled for the second year in a row and just one day before its kick-off this past March, many event organisers (including Bluesfest’s founder, Peter Noble) were surely shocked.
Suddenly, questions about the feasibility of staging any outdoor gigs anytime soon started being taken more seriously again. Even the ones with proper COVID-safe protocols in place.
Luckily, that didn’t stop new music projects in Queensland from flourishing. One of them is the Coochiemudlo Island Festival whose first edition is set to take place on the second Saturday in May in circumstances “where the music meets the sea”.
I heard about Coochiemudlo Island for the first time when the festival’s press release reached my mailbox. I don’t know how I could have missed that blissful spot during my epic road trip through Queensland in 2019. What an awesome place to stage a music event! Let alone the local talent that will perform and the range of accompanying activities.
THE ISLAND
Before exploring the festival’s offering, let’s get the island’s name right. As you would expect, its origin is Aboriginal. The two words that make it up are English language versions of the Yuggera “kutchi” (meaning red) and “mudlo” (meaning stone). That short history lesson should also help you figure out the correct pronunciation that I had problems with at the beginning.
And if not, here’s a song by one of the bands playing at the festival, The Double Happiness, that will instantly drill it in your brain 🙂 This is also the tune that inspired the whole event.
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