This year's Umbrella: Winter City Sounds ignites in style with the official Opening Street Party to be held in the Bank Street laneway.
“This year, we really wanted to start Umbrella with a bigger opening party,” event curator Lewis Brideson says.
“We haven't necessarily had an opening party of this scale before to kick off the festival.
“What we've done is, the way the Umbrella festival is an open-access festival where everyone can register their events, we've mirrored that by having an open-access first night where everyone can walk through Bank Street and see local, live music.
"There's going to be vendors out on the street, stage design and lots of things going off to start the Umbrella festival off with a bang.”
The Umbrella Opening Street Party is presented by Music SA and Renewal SA to help bookend the two-week winter festival celebrating South Australian music, arts and culture during the cooler months and outside of major international gatherings such as the mad-March festivals.
“The vision collectively between all of us at Music SA was to celebrate local, live music and give winter its moment for live music as well, and to encourage people from South Australia to come out during winter and see live music and not just during the Fringe Festival months.”
The Opening Street Party takes over Bank Street in the Adelaide CBD, a popular thoroughfare to the city's nightlife district and one of many laneways being revitalised as part of an overhaul of the Riverbank precinct.
"In collaboration with Guitar Festival we will open with The Family Bushdance Band (Max Savage) and Hana & Jessie Lee, followed by Hartway, Kuji Koo and local DJs into the twilight.
“With Bank Street being one of the new markets for Riverbank laneways, it's almost a gateway for the city though Bank Street from the train station and go to Hindley Street for the nightlife.
“So it makes sense to have the opening night of the festival happen there and celebrate everything local,” Lewis says.
“The past couple of years in Adelaide, there's been a lot of activating of our old laneways through the small-bar scene and lots of great restaurants. With Hindley Street being one of our busiest nightlife streets, Bank Street runs just off it between Hindley Street, the train station and casino, and has some great, local food and bars as well.”
