Yarra Council was impressed enough with figures from this year’s inaugural event in July (5 to 20) to increase its funding from $35,000 to $80,000. Estimates were that 80,000 people attended 293 events across 34 local venues.
These included record launches, after-parties, special residencies, mini-festivals covering acoustic, unsigned and psychedelia, Q&A sessions with music celebs, hip hop & electronic workshops, record fairs, street corner performances, live album recordings, fundraisers, movie screenings, bus tours of music landmarks, and a series of remarkable curated shows that were everything from pedal powered to silent gigs to those specifically about songs of the Yarra.
The festival was put together by Jon Perring (The Tote), Mary Mihelakos (Yah Yahs) and Justin Rudge (The Standard Hotel) with support from Music Victoria.
Perring told Beat that the extra funding was most welcome. “This year we were under-funded for what we were trying to do,” he explained. “The first festival was about getting the concept up, but it was a massive struggle.” The extra money meant more initiatives, more pay for the artists and able to run the festival on a more “professional” basis, he said.
Co-promoter Mary Mihelakos said the whole idea of Leaps and Bounds was to be “totally inclusive of all the community, we want our demographic to be 1 to 100.” That includes migrant, indigenous and senior citizen communities” with everything from kids’ events to old style dances in town halls.
Plans for the 2014 festival are still tentative. But there will be greater input from 3PBS FM including live to air specials, while Bakehouse Studios is expected to opens its rooms for performances and tours that will allow the public to experience acts rehearsing and recording. Currently being negotiated is a special Leap and Bounds beer brewed by Abbotsford’s Mountain Goat.
Perring said that attracting 80,000 in its first year was no surprise to Leaps and Bounds organisers. “A tremendous amount of people go out to venues in Fitzroy and Collingwood and see what local acts are doing and support them. That’s the whole purpose of the festival. It is to put a spotlight on what’s happening in these areas, and undercover what is the hidden jewel of the Melbourne music scene.”
