Budjerah, The Merindas lead free Oakleigh festival Live at Warrawee 2022
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16.02.2022

Budjerah, The Merindas lead free Oakleigh festival Live at Warrawee 2022

Warrawee

Free Oakleigh festival Live at Warrawee returns in March 2022 with Budjerah and The Merindas set to herald a beautiful afternoon watching the sunset over Warrawee Park.

Live at Warrawee is the City of Monash’s free one-day festival, running from the arvo into the evening in the picturesque surrounds of Oakleigh’s Warrawee Park on Drummond Street. Bring a picnic rug or some camping chairs and enjoy the pop-up bar and the food trucks in one of the finest day fests to hit the south-east this summer.

Warrawee is an Indigenous word for ‘stop here’ – an apt title for this year’s excellent lineup, tapping into Australia’s barnstorming First Nations music scene. Known as a good local talent picker, the festival has boasted the likes of Mental as Anything, Taxiride, Reece Mastin and Alex Lahey, just to name a few.

What you need to know

  • Live at Warrawee is a free, one-day Oakleigh festival
  • Saturday 19 March 2022, 4pm-9pm
  • Warrawee Park, 95 Drummond Street

Keep up with the latest music news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.

Now in its fifth year, Live at Warrawee returns in 2022 headlined by ARIA Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist award winner Budjerah, fresh off the success of his 2021 eponymous debut album, and his new single ‘Wash My Sorrows Away’, produced by Matt Corby.

Budjerah grew up singing gospel with pastor parents but has dived headfirst into R&B, soul and down-tempo electronica, leading him to also pick up New Artist of the Year at the National Indigenous Music Awards last year to cap off a stellar 2021.

Supporting are pop-duo The Merindas, comprising Candice Lorrae and Kristel Kickett, who have been producing music since 2016, and are beginning to form a significant local following after their debut EP Complicated last year.

The Merindas channel groups like TLC and Destiny’s Child with pitch-perfect pop vocals and catchy beats, but combine US influences with their own unique First Nations culture. It’s “electronic with a lot of harmony, a dance hall feel, with a lot of afro beat, hip hop, R&B” mixed in with traditional language,” the pair told us recently.

“We call it a warrior feel,” Lorrae explained, “so when you’re listening to it you just feel empowered. What we’ve been working on for so many years is all to do with timing and I think this is the right time for us now.”

After the standout success of Budjerah’s electronic-infused collaboration with dance music superstars PNAU, ‘Stranger Love’, led him to surpass the 10 million stream mark, Live at Warrawee is the chance to witness three of Australia’s future superstars.

Find out more info here.