Port Fairy Jazz Festival 2026

October Nesletter from the Port Fairy Jazz Festival

October 2025

Western Victoria Jazz Productions Inc,

PO Box 325, Port Fairy 3284

Incorporation No. A0094541G, ABN 75471454678

A ‘not for profit’ organisation run entirely by volunteers

portfairyjazzfestival@gmail.com

www.portfairyjazz.com.au

__________________________________________________________________

SAVE THE DATE

The 2026 Port Fairy Jazz Festival is being held on the weekend of

13th – 15th February 2026

Online tickets sales will open on 1st August 2025 (early-bird prices will

be available until the 15th December 2025) – www.portfairyjazz.com.au

2026 TICKET PRICES:

Early Bird Weekend ($20

discount to 15th December)

$130

Saturday after 6.00pm

$60

Weekend

$150

Sunday

$60

Friday Night Only

$60

Partners Ticket

$60

Saturday all day

$100

Band Nominations and Musician Registrations for the 2026 Festival

Band leaders please note the following:

Band nominations for the 2026 festival close on 30th September.

Band Nominations and Musician Registrations are once again to be

completed via the online registration process. Please see the Musicians

Tab at www.portfairyjazz.com.au

For programming purposes, musicians are limited to nominating for THREE

bands only. During the festival musicians may play in as many bands as

they wish, but programming will not factor in clashes for these unscheduled

performances.

Band leaders should remind their musicians that it is imperative that they

complete the online registration which allows them to be included in the

musician disbursement process.

All registrations, if completed successfully, will result in an automated email

confirmation. If this is not received, you may need to repeat the registration

process.

Timeline

2025

15th December – Early Bird

Ticket sales close. Full price

tickets still available on the

Website.

21st December – Final program

published on the Website.

2026

6th January – John Huf Award

Entries close.

12th February – Online ticket

sales close. Tickets still available

for purchase from the Jazz Office.

Partner Registrations close.

12th February – Jazz Office

opens for musicians and patrons

including ticket sales.

13th to 15th February – JAZZ

FESTIVAL

Thank you Denis

Thank you Denis Bell from the Port Fairy Jazz Festival committee

Denis has been involved with the Port Fairy Jazz Festival since 2016, when a group

of jazz enthusiasts who had been associated with the Halls Gap Grampians festival

over a number of years, decided that they had experienced some trying conditions

during the second weekend of February and it was time to transfer it closer to the

coast to catch the tempering sea breeze. John Huf, the instigator of the move and

original festival coordinator asked his good friend Denis Bell to help out by being

treasurer of the new committee. He accepted the appointment and somehow fitted in

a busy treasurer’s duties between shifts driving milk tankers, never missing a

meeting of either the executive or the full committee.

In addition to the functions of treasurer, producing profit and loss and financial

balance sheets, Denis also spent a lot of time assisting with the scheduling of the

many bands that nominated each year into a program spread across 10 venues

scattered around the town.

The volunteer committee is profoundly grateful to Denis for the many hours that he

committed to his tasks to ensure the smooth running of our annual festival. He

achieved all of this during a time when there were stresses in his personal life that

caused him to drive long distances to attend to family matters in Stawell.

On behalf of the committee of the Port Fairy Jazz Festival, I thank Denis for his

contribution to the running of the gig over the first eight annual events.

Gavin Franklin and the Port Fairy Jazz Festival Committee

Join the Port Fairy Jazz Festival Committee –

Help Shape the Music! 🎶

Are you passionate about music, community, and creativity? Do you want to be part

of something exciting and vibrant?

We’re calling for new members to join the Port Fairy Jazz Festival Committee as

we prepare for next year’s festival. Whether you’re a jazz enthusiast, event planner,

marketer, social media proficient, programming expert, fundraiser, or simply love

being involved in community events – we’d love to hear from you!

Also, membership is not confined to living locally as anyone willing to assist can do

so via the capabilities of the internet.

No prior experience is needed – just enthusiasm and a collaborative spirit.

Interested?

Please messsage our President Jenni on 0400 065 422 or email her on

jenpf@outlook.com to express your interest or find out more.

Four types of sponsorship packages are available!!!

Messsage our President Jenni on 0400 065 422 or email

her on jenpf@outlook.com to find out more about our

Sponsorship Opportunities

2026 John Huf Award

The John Huf Award for young jazz performers will again be part of the 2026 festival.

This is open to players of any instrument and vocalists. Entrants should be under 26

on the Saturday of the festival. To enter, a performer should record or video

him/herself playing the head and an improvised solo on two tunes and send them to

the secretary of the Port Fairy Jazz committee. Details of the award are available

under the Musicians tab on the website and prospective entrants are

encouraged to read the conditions explained there.

SPONSORSHIP & ADVERTISING

PACKAGES

Volunteer News

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN – WE’RE SEEKING HELP TO RUN OUR

FESTIVAL

PLEASE

As you well know,

volunteers are integral to

the success of our Festival.

We are looking for help in

the following areas:

Bumping In: Thursday,

Friday

Bumping Out: Monday

Office: Thursday, Friday,

Saturday, Sunday

Venues: Friday 4.45pm –

11.00pm

Saturday 10.45am –

11.00pm

Sunday 11.45am –

6.00pm

If you think you may be able to assist please email (jenpf@outlook.com) or call/text

(0400065422) Jenni, with your name, email address and mobile.

Further information will be emailed in November.

Thank you very much – we are so appreciative; our festival only succeeds with the support

of volunteers.

Volunteer Hours: The Jazz Festival Committee offers a free weekend ticket for the Festival

to anyone who volunteers for more than 10 hours over the weekend.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Jenni Hider-Smith, Olga Lemke & Imelda Dowdle

On behalf of the Port Fairy Jazz Festival Committee

Australian Jazz Convention

The Australian Jazz Convention is an annual gathering for musicians and jazz lovers to celebrate their

music. While the focus in on traditional or “Dixieland” jazz, the convention is also open to groups

playing swing, mainstream, bebop, modern, funk, and other jazz genres. Since 1946 the convention

has been hosted by different cities and towns across Australia. In 2025 the 79th AJC will be held in

Mildura, Victoria, from 26th to 31st December. https://australianjazzconvention.org.au/

The AJC has a great list of Australian Jazz Clubs:

https://australianjazzconvention.org.au/clubsfestivals/

Audio Assistance

The success of our festival hinges on the quality of the sound produced by bands in

our venues. The people who are critical to the sound quality are our audio assistants

who assist bands with their sound checks in each venue. They enable musicians to

hear themselves and other band members through the fold back speakers that are

provided.

We want our bands to have a quality experience in every venue in which they play.

In order to make the experience better for our assistants, it is vital that we recruit

experienced operators to attend each venue and to have more than one for each

venue to enable the audio people to have relief from their task occasionally during

the weekend.

To this end, we are looking for people with an interest in sound production to

volunteer to help out in this capacity. If you can do this, we would like to hear from

you and will provide you with a lanyard that will admit you to all of our venues and

you will be entitled to receive a musician’s disbursement from the festival, if you have

not already received one as a performer.

Please contact us via our email address to indicate your availability and interest.

Preserving Australian Jazz for the future generation of jazz lovers.

The Museum is opened TUESDAYS only from 10.00 to 3.00pm.Keep checking their

website for more details - https://www.ajm.org.au/

Their location is “Koomba Park”, 15 Mountain Highway, Wantirna, Vic 3152.

ROUND THE JAZZ SCENE

Southern Jazz Club (Adelaide)

21st October 2025 – The Ex-Pats Friendship Club

28th October 2025 – The Fan Club

6th November 2025 – Dave Goodwin & Friends

11th November 2025 – Jessie Gordon & Mark Turner

Come and celebrate Halloween with Dingo’s double-bill featuring Fiona Burnett Band, and Dutch

saxophonist and festival director Alexander Beets, with an all-star cast from the Netherlands.

Friday October 31

Doors 7:30pm

Fringe Common Rooms at Trades Hall.

Alexander’s Big Sounds project delivers a mix of hard-bop, soul jazz and original compositions.

Deeply rooted in the swing tradition, the band combines old-school grooves with a modern edge,

creating a sound full of energy, interplay and expressive storytelling.

Jazz Radio - Robin has a new Jazz Program on 3bbr fm entitled “Jazz Just For

You” which runs from 7pm to 8pm every Thursday. Google 3BBR FM and click on

the LISTEN LIVE button and you will hear a great show put together by Robin with

interesting data on the musos that he has selected for everyone’s enjoyment.ed will post info here when it becomes available