With a lineup of 45 local bands and performers, this Saturday's Fitz Fest provides plenty of reasons to visit Fitzmaurice Street after you vote in the election.
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Returning for its second year, the one-day live music festival will showcase Wagga's best local talent with an eclectic lineup spread across several cafes and pubs.
Duke of Kent Hotel publican Ward Gaiter said the festival is a most welcome boost to Wagga's live music scene, for both musicians and venues involved.
"Live music, it's dying in Australia at the moment," he said.
"Pubs aren't live music venues anymore or pubs have moved towards the pokie route.
"We've gone away from that - we want to be a live music venue, we want to support local acts, we want to support regional acts, we want that industry to thrive."
The live music mainstay will be taking full advantage of the new stage and PA system it had installed about 12 months ago, which normally hosts acts every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
"It's all original music, so hopefully people come down and support these guys and girls who are doing it."
Fitz Fest organiser Phoebe Pinnock said events like this are crucial for up-and-coming Wagga musicians.
"It builds relationships between the artists and the venues," she said
"And it gives local audiences the opportunity to sample all of these incredible artists and get them on their radar, so that in future they can follow them, go and see them and support them at a paid gig."
According to Ms Pinnock, the strip hosting this weekend's festival is becoming more and more important for culture in the community.
"I think Fitzmaurice Street is working towards being a cultural focus for the city of Wagga," she said.
"But I would love to see the whole street closed off with bands everywhere - wouldn't that be wonderful."
A musician herself, Ms Pinnock's must-see picks for the day include hard rock band Lavish Pedro taking the stage at the Duke of Kent in the evening and Aria Amore, a 16-year-old singer-songwriter making her live music debut by kicking off The Curious Rabbit's lineup of emerging singer-songwriters.
She also highly recommends catching original music from the Riverina Concert Band at the Woollundry Amphitheatre, before the unique outdoor stage hosts a lineup of Indigenous acts.
Bringing the music to the streets from a stage balcony above Meccanico to start the day will be Ukrainian opera singer Larissa Kovalchuk at 10am and Yazidi refugee Khairi Shengale at 10.30am.
Other participating venues include Romano's Hotel, the Riverina Hotel, the Thirsty Crow and Sculpted Jewels.
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Local musician Grant Lurhs agreed on the event's importance for live music after a difficult two years faced by the gig-reliant industry.
"COVID has given us a big wake up call because you don't really miss something until it's gone," he said.
A Wagga music scene veteran with 15 albums to his name, Mr Luhrs will be closing out the Romano's Hotel stage on Saturday evening.
"I'm proud to be a part of it - anything that encourages singer-songwriters to get out there and have a go," he said.
Mr Luhrs, who moved to Wagga in 1982 to set up a recording studio and pursue a career in music, said the point of difference for Fitz Fest is its eclectic "celebration" of all musical genres.
"There's no one genre of music, there's all shapes and sizes of musical styles that are on display," he said.
"I'm really blown away by the number of people that are actually involved in original music.
"It's fantastic, very healthy climate right now across not only Wagga, but also the Riverina."
You can see the full Fitz Fest lineup at their website.
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