Wangaratta record shop's Kickass Record Fair returns with 10,000-plus records
The Kickass Record Fair returns to Wangaratta Club on 31 October, with No.49 Record Bar once again bringing thousands of vinyl records to town.
Run by No.49 Record Bar, a shop that started life six years ago as a single suitcase during lockdown, the fair has become a genuine drawcard for music fans across regional Victoria and beyond.
The shop itself occupies a 2.7-metre-wide slice of Wangaratta and first opened its doors in July 2020, during the first covid lockdown, by locals Ben and Bridey.
What began as a takeaway coffee window with one suitcase of records for people to flip through while stuck at home has grown into a full record store stacked with thousands of second-hand records and CDs, with coffee roasted by local legend Doctor Chins Coffee Lab still very much part of the deal, including a signature No.49 house blend called It’s Off The Record.
Kickass Record Fair – Wangaratta
- 31 October, 10am to 4pm
- 4 Victoria Parade, Wangaratta Club
- DJ Stu and DJ Doug spinning all day
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Now in its third year, the fair runs alongside the Wangaratta Jazz & Blues Festival, turning the town into even more of a music magnet for the weekend.
Ten sellers from Victoria and New South Wales will set up shop with over 10,000 new and second-hand records and CDs between them, covering everything from rare original pressings to well-worn classics from the seventies and eighties.
For the team behind No.49 Record Bar, the fair is also a chance to celebrate what the space has meant to Wangaratta. The town hadn’t had a dedicated music shop in almost two decades before it opened, and locals have made it clear how much that gap was felt.
Regulars have described walking in and being hit with nostalgia, whether that’s a Nirvana poster on the wall or stumbling across an album they grew up with in the family lounge room.
Shop owners Ben and Bridey say they’ve loved swapping stories with customers of all ages about the live music scenes and music culture of their own generations.
DJ Stu and DJ Doug will keep the turntables running throughout the day, soundtracking the crate-digging as buyers hunt for anything from rare pressings to old favourites.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with No.49 Record Bar.
