OPENING NIGHT GALA – OUR NIGHT OF NIGHTS

About OPENING NIGHT GALA – OUR NIGHT OF NIGHTS

Join us as we officially open CresFest with a night of pure joy and celebration. Embrace the experience of live music in your life again with a simply stunning line up. The night includes a Dja Dja Wurrung welcome, special words from festival organisers, the first performance of our Creswick Kids Choir led by Ballarat’s own singing dynamo Stella Savy and two very different but equally dazzling female artists.

Lucy Wise, originally from WA is now an ‘almost local’. Living in Malmsbury, Lucy tells stories of love and life, of loss and learning. She is ‘a natural storyteller, infusing songs with a sense of place so strong you can almost feel the dusty earth crunch beneath your feet as she sings.’ – The Brag. One of a few players at CresFest who grew up on stage with her folkie family, Lucy is loved for her stunning vocals, intricate instrumental playing and poetic lyricism. Lucy’s latest album ‘Wintersun’ won 4.5 stars in The Australian and she is a two-time nominee for Music Victoria’s Folk Artist of the Year.

Acclaimed Indigenous vocalist Emma Donovan and Melbourne rhythm combo The Putbacks burst on to the Australian scene with their album Dawn in 2015, announcing a new voice in Australian soul music. Emma’s songwriting is optimistic, impassioned, and bruisingly honest, The Putbacks’ music is fluid, live and raw, and the collaboration has won friends and admirers all over the world. They have been described as ‘a tour de force of funk and soul hailing from the land down under’ by Pop Matters and ‘driven by brutally honest lyricism, irresistible percussion and a purist’s respect for the funk and soul tradition’ (Okay Player). Emma has been nominated for multiple awards and was the subject of the 2005 SBS TV documentary Emma Donovan: Gumbainggir Lady.  Donovan has sung and performed with indigenous Australian musicians such as Frank Yamma, her cousin Casey Donovan, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, Kerriane Cox, Christine Anu, Tiddas, Yothu Yindi, and Jimmy Little. In 2021 she took out the Best Independent Soul/R&B Album with Crossover. 

Right here in Creswick, for your enjoyment.

*Plus booking fee