Leaps and Bounds Music Festival unveils 2020 program celebrating live music and local venues
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28.05.2020

Leaps and Bounds Music Festival unveils 2020 program celebrating live music and local venues

Elizabeth, pic by Naomi Lee Beveridge
Words by Tom Parker

The beloved Melbourne festival is back.

One of Melbourne’s most anticipated events of the year, City of Yarra’s Leaps and Bounds Music Festival have just revealed a bumper lineup for their 2020 iteration. They’ll be going fully digital this time around but that hasn’t hamstrung their ingenuity.

Going down from June 11 to June 20, the festival will be celebrating live music first and foremost, presenting performers streaming live not from their homes but from venues across Melbourne in a safe, socially-distant manner.

Outside of that, Leaps and Bounds will be championing record stores, music labels, community radio stations, recording studios and community organisations through their 2020 event.

With this year’s theme as ‘Apart and Not Alone’, there’s an air of togetherness and unity to the bill – something that’s more important than ever right now.

Without further ado, here are some of the highlights of the program:

  • In an unprecedented event, Kim Salmon and The Surrealists will be recording their new album live and fully improvised from Rolling Stock Recording Rooms.
  • Local wunderkind Erica Dunn (Tropical Fuck Storm, MOD CON, Harmony, Palm Springs) will lead the Feminist Punk Guitar Orchestra straight from the Tramway Hotel.
  • From The Gaso, punters will be able to learn tarot card reading from Jess Ribeiro, a song from Emma Donovan & The Putbacks as well as a cooking class from Rainbow Chan.
  • Elizabeth and Sui Zhen performing live from Longplay.
  • A trip down memory lane with former owner of The Tote, Au Go Go records founder and Triple R broadcaster Bruce Milne as part of History of Music in Yarra.
  • As part of the Mission Songs Project, Jessie Lloyd will present a collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mission songs from 1900 to now in the MAYSAR Boxing Ring in Fitzroy.
  • A performance from jazz icon Bob Sedergreen from the Horn Cafe.
  • A 40th-birthday celebration for PBS FM‘s longstanding program Acid Country.

That’s just the start, with so much more set to take place, this year’s ten-day extravaganza will be especially momentous. Leaps and Bounds has gone to incredible lengths to deliver a wide-spanning, adventurous program that sits safely within the current restrictions.

Commissioned by the City of Yarra and programmed by Yarra venues, the event will be co-presented by Yarra community radio station PBS 106.7FM.

Leaps and Bounds Music Festival takes place from Thursday June 11 to Saturday June 20, spanning both free and ticketed events. Head to the festival website for more info. 

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