The Community Music Scene Warming Tasmania’s Winter

Tasmania’s pristine natural wonders have long awed all who’ve come to marvel them. But the idea that Hobart or Launceston can rival Melbourne or Sydney for music, art and culture is entertained by few.

But locals know better, and so do the increasing droves of visitors who have come to understand Tasmania relishes winter like nowhere else. While the rest of the country shuns the dark and the cold and hosts the majority of their events in summer, Tasmania embraces it with a series of festivals unparalleled by anywhere else in Australia.

One of the most unique of these is the Festival of Voices. Now in its 13th year, the singing-focused event will again light up Hobart and select locations on the Tasmanian east coast between June 30 and July 16. Literally. “Originally they thought a nice idea might be to light up a bonfire in the middle of the city and get people to come and sing around it,” says festival director Peter Choraziak. That “nice idea” became the City of Hobart Big Sing Bonfire, an event that now attracts 5000 people to Salamanca Place.

It’s the centrepiece for dozens of satellite events that take over venues and public in Hobart and along the east coast, from the family-friendly to the avant-garde. The program makes for a diverse line up: this year the childlike-wonder of a performance like Rhymes My Nana Taught Me sits on a bill with pop stars Sarah Blasko and Toni Childs as well as visiting choirs from Hong Kong and Hangzhou, cabaret shows, and some of the best names in jazz, gospel, soul and more.

This element of knitting together the familiar with the unexpected has become somewhat of a tradition among Tasmania’s festivals, whether in the brooding and experimental Dark Mofo, or the pagan theatre of the Huon Valley Mid Winter Festival. Festival of Voices predates them both by nearly a decade, and Choraziak says what’s distinctly theirs is the emphasis on voice. 

“The main cohort of people who come to the festival are singers themselves,” says Choraziak. “The festival is a meeting point on their calendar. Like any group of people, they come to share, to network, to party and to sing.” That doesn’t preclude beginners says Choraziak: the voice is a communal instrument that makes the Festival of Voices a communal event. “The most important thing is participation,” he says. “It’s a meeting point for anyone who likes voice and song. The participants are our performers which attract other participants – the general public.”

Hobart resident Aimee Clarke is a music fan and regular attendee of Festival of Voices. She says the festival is welcomed for its transformation of her city every year. “I love Festival of Voices because there’s heaps of events going around town that bring the general vibe up during the cold days,” she says. It also brings performers and punters to the city who might not otherwise visit. “It makes the whole city feel a bit musical,” she says. “And all the events at theatres are a nice reason to dress up and have a glass of wine and feel a bit fancy.”

This transformative effect of music isn’t exclusive to Hobart, especially in winter. Over on the north-west coast, the Devonport Jazz Festival runs across the last weekend of July, bringing the sound of New Orleans to dozens of venues around the city. Having doubled its offerings since its inception in 2002, the festival boasts alumni like Rhonda Burchmore and James Morrison, but like the Festival of Voices, it thrives on secret gems, too. This year’s event sees “gypsy jazz” outfit Django’s Tiger conjuring jazzy takes on nursery rhymes, The Sounds of Silent improvise a silent film soundtrack, and the New Talent Showcase give local rising talent a platform.

The Devonport Jazz Festival also intersects with another community tradition: Ghost Rock Vineyard’s Sunday Sessions. Held on the Northern Tasmanian vineyard’s communal space outside the Cellar Door, these intimate sets attract touring legends and locals alike, cast against the backdrop of Ghost Rock’s sprawling green fields.

Such occasions don’t happen in isolation. Tasmania has long supported a healthy DIY scene – a cultural underbelly represented by a thriving independent music community. Artists like post-punk duo Native Cats, party-starters Hazey Daze, and Good Marinations, help make the state’s music scene one of the country’s best-kept secrets. Tasmania’s reputation as a place to get sweaty and loud in the dark intimacy of its venues is growing – the thriving electronic music scene has even earned a nickname, Cold Ibiza, coined by local musician and promoter Nathan Savage, who performs as Bronze Savage, runs shows at The Grand Poobah and is one of the people behind the recently launched Rose Quartz Festival in Lake Pedder. The name is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the party capital of the world, but also indicative of how Tasmanians won’t let geography and frost stop them from building their own.

That rebellious spirit is the core of why Tasmania comes alive in winter. It takes a kind of courage to head out into the darkness and freezing cold, light a great big fire in the middle of it and sing about it. Skewering the night’s silence with thousands of voices.

With the combination of festivals sparking hundreds of events across the season, Tasmania will be flooded with people seeking new and unusual thrills. Even with that pressure in mind, Choraziak is excited about the droves of people coming together from all over the world for the Festival of Voices ceremony.

“Any excuse for a party,” he says. While there’s not a prerequisite for participation beyond lending your voice, he does offer one valuable piece of advice regarding the festival’s unofficial costume. “It’s the puffer jacket,” he says. “You’ve gotta wear your puffer jacket.”

The Festival of Voices will be held from Friday June 30 to Sunday July 16. See the full program and buy tickets.

The Devonport Jazz Festival runs from Thursday July 27 to Sunday July 30. See the gig guide.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Tasmania – Go Behind the Scenery. Curious? To get amongst it and experience all Tassie has to offer this winter - start your story here.