After two years the Byron Bay Bluesfest is finally set to return.
Festival Director Peter Noble says the event is a kickstart for the entertainment industry after the hardships of the pandemic.
"We're [part of] the return of major events in this country," he said.
"We're happening, a few days after that Tamworth Music Festival is doing its 50th, after that, music is back to the way it used to be."
The bump-in has already started as workers prepare the site for the Easter long weekend.
Muddy paddocks in the Northern Rivers will be transformed into a bustling village with multiple stages, set to welcome about 85,000 people and some of the biggest names in music.
First fest in years
This will be the first Bluesfest to go ahead since 2019.
Mr Noble said the last-minute cancellation of the event in 2021 "wasn't the worst moment" of his life, but made the "top five".
The stages were set, chairs were in place and vendors ready when a public health order forced organisers to pull the pin 24 hours before gates were due to open.
Mr Noble said the cancellations rocked the industry's confidence and robbed many emerging artists of their chance to succeed.
"I've seen a lot of people lose two years of their careers," he said.
"That's two years you can never have back."
Mr Noble said he was always going to find a way to come back.
"This is what I do, I've been doing this all my life since I was a kid — I've always been in the music business," he said.
He credited the team that stuck with the event.
"We're showpeople," he said.
Against the elements
Event manager Matty Williams said load-in started a little earlier than usual as crews worked against the weather to get the site ready.
"There's been a lot of rain up here and flooding in the area, so we're just trying to get the grass cut so we can get it dried out as quick as we can so we can keep it operating," he said.
"It was extensive through the site in some areas, because we're right on a creek and near the ocean, but the event site stayed pretty high and dry."
Mr Williams said about 40 workers were onsitem but there would be 1,000 by the end of the week.
Vendors cheer return
Paola Zlatar runs a gelato shop near Byron Bay and has been a regular stallholder at Bluesfest for a decade.
"It's by far my favourite festival — I love it," she said.
She said the last-minute cancellation was a huge blow for the stallholders, some of whom had spent more than a week preparing to feed the punters.
"Of course we're all excited a bit more this year because we've been holding out for two years and we're hoping that this time it goes well," she said.
Let the cash flow
Business owners hope the event will be a boost to the region, which has been through a tough couple of years.
"We need you to spend money, fly in, catch a taxi, go eat a meal, go spend money in our community because our community to come into it again," Mr Noble said.
The Northern Rivers endured strict closures on the Queensland/New South Wales border, then was battered by devastating floods.
"Especially after the impact that COVID and now these floods have had on the region, this is going to bring a little bit of normality back to Brunswick Heads and the Byron Shire," said Brunswick Heads holiday park manager Jared Carr.
"It's great to have that sort of influx in the community, it's going to be great for the area, hopefully we can get things going again the way we used to have it.
"I think everyone's going to be looking forward to letting their hair down."
The festival will feature the likes of Paul Kelly, Midnight Oil, The Living End, Jimmy Barnes, Tex Perkins and others.
