LOW TIDE
THE LOW DOWN ON LOW TIDE 2023
Plans for this year's Low Tide festival are underway.
Excitement is building for the return of the Festival of Small Halls to Russell Island, following on from two hugely successful shows on the Bay Islands in 2022.
Without doubt, our music-loving community will be welcoming back the Small Halls crew with open arms and ears! They are bringing an all new amazing line-up of touring artists, being Canadian folk troubadour Shane Pendergast, and cello wielding singer/songwriter Monique Clare. Be prepared for another evening of top calibre, original, live music to lift our spirits and raise the roof at the Russell Island Recreation Hall on September 28.
By now you’ll be wondering about other Low Tide events.
Previous news had flagged that the Tide Festival would be scaled right back this year. This was a tough call for a team so proud and inspired by the success of Tide 2022 - inspired but exhausted!
Low Tide looked like a great way to tread more gently. The team was delighted and impressed by the community response to calls for expressions of interest. However, the tiny group of busy volunteers is now more aware than ever of the need to find a workable balance for this year’s commitments.
Despite shared enthusiasm for presenting this fantastic cultural event right here in our own community, the enormous ‘boots on the ground’ demands would, at least for now, stretch the capacity of the team beyond its limits.
This year, without the human or financial resources to present Low Tide in quite the way they had imagined, the team is focussing its energy on bringing you the latest Festival of Small Halls show.
As well as an opportunity for our community to access international and nationally recognised musical acts, Festival of Small Halls also showcases some local talent in the form of support artists. It’s a fantastic chance for our emerging musicians to share a stage with established, professional touring performers.
A number of the other wonderful events that would have formed Low Tide will still be presented independently on the islands.
Make sure you get out and enjoy the fabulous range of local activities being offered by passionate community groups and organisations during the coming months. Tide will share promotions for these events through its social media platforms wherever possible.
Looking ahead, the aim is for Tide to be a sustainable festival - one that looks after its people and feeds its community as an exciting, strong and viable event, year on year. By taking time to slow down and refresh, the Tide team is making space to focus on bringing another unforgettable Tide Festival to our Islands in 2024.
The Festival of Small Halls concert is happening at Russell Island Recreation Hall on September 28 from 6:30pm. Find more details and ticket link via Facebook fb.com/TideRedlandsCoastIslandsFestival, tide_festival on Instagram and tidefestival.com.au.
• Monique Clare