Byron Bluesfest 09
In a masterful display of guts and fortitude 85,000 souls braved the mud, rain and lack of creature comforts to take in an huge array of some the world's best music during five damp days of the 2009 Byron Bay Bluesfest. It wasn't just wet. It was damn wet...it didn't rain in the sub-tropical torrential manner during the festival but the grounds were already at their capacity when the gig started so every regular small downpour that was added just formed larger and larger puddles.
The access points between the stages became flowing waterways and gumboot sales in Byron rocketed. Several small time gumboot entrepreneurs set up sales offices from their car boots and front-yards. At the same time several Byron Bay retailers reported record sales. So the Festival is a definite boost to the local economy and the organisers should be congratulated for the fiscal injection on that level.
What is great about living in this town is that you can go downtown any night of the week and hear great music. We who live here have a huge debt to those who came before and ensured that places like The Rails are still here and celebrate the fact that it is the only Hotel in Australia that has live music 365 days of the year!
