The only way to kick-start Umbrella: Winter City Sounds is with the official Opening Street Party, featuring a headline performance by the legendary Archie Roach.
“It’s our opening night celebration and we use it as an opportunity to invite people along to a party to get a feel for what’s on offer over the course of the following two weeks,” Music SA General Manager Lisa Bishop says.
“There will be little tasters and teasers of artists and lots of promotion about what’s going to be included in the Umbrella programme.”
Along with Archie Roach, the Opening Street Party also boasts performances from SA Music Award nominees and winners including Ollie English and Alana Jagt as well as a Welcome To Country by Jack Buckskin. Corey Theatre and Nathan May will also perform to coincide with NAIDOC Week.
“We definitely wanted to have an Indigenous element in there, and Corey and Nathan are part of that as well as Jack Buckskin, who is a terrific guy and will be doing the formal Welcome To Country for us,” Lisa says.
“Umbrella as a whole has a nice Indigenous thread throughout the entire programme this year and it coincides with NAIDOC Week, so that’s why it’s really important for that acknowledgement to happen at the opening night.”
Headline act Archie Roach is a beloved performer commanding respect from all corners of the music world for his artistry and musicianship, which in turn has inspired new generations of singer-songwriters.
As Umbrella: Winter City Sounds heads into its fourth year, Lisa says the event has experienced organic growth that is expanding into suburban areas outside the city and beyond. “We’ve worked really hard over the course of the past four years to build the brand, so I’m hoping to see more people out and about as part of Umbrella this year,” she says.
“One of the things that’s going to be different is that we’ve got a lot more buy-in from local councils this year, so we’ll see more of Umbrella out in the suburbs this year. But also organically, regional centres have approached us to programme events as part of Umbrella. So it’s spreading its reach without us having to formally say we’ll have Umbrella across the whole state.”
