Each year the Brunswick Music Festival kicks off their festivities with the Sydney Road Street Party. Last year we stumbled upon it and this year we had it firmly in the calendar (not to be missed).

The weather was perfect and loads of people came out to support all things local – bands, street performers, food, fashion and more. Most of Sydney Road is blocked off and the whole street comes alive with beats and riffs around every corner. There are several stages with all kinds of music to choose from including  jazz, roots, indie, folk and celtic.

We checked the program before we got there and mapped out who we wanted to see, starting off with Ainslie Wills (and band) who were really, really good. She has a brilliant voice (not unlike Lana Del Rey) and we loved their set. I will definitely be checking her out on iTunes.

Next we walked up the road to see The Seven Ups who promised some deep funk and bad afro! These guys were great, super fun beats with awesome horns and percussion. They drew a big crowd and everyone was lapping it up and grooving along. I highly recommend checking them out, they will have you up on your feet getting your groove on in no time!

In between the bands there were demonstrations of local dance studios and the like, so we got to see a Bollywood performance by the teachers and their young students, who also taught us some moves to the ‘Jai Ho’ song (which was featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire). There was also a very colourful dance performance based on Latin and Brazilian styles which finished with a crazy conga line at the end. Yes, I joined in much to Ava’s puzzled looks, I tried to get her to join in too but she just looked at me like I was nuts. It seems she’s already embarrassed by me and she’s only 4! The girls had amazing feathered showgirl costumes and Ava had her photo taken with one of them after the show, I love that shot.

Brunswick Music Festival