From music venues to local artists, Yarra Council is backing our live music scene through the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with Leaps & Bounds Music Festival returning in June.
Leaps & Bounds 2020 – Apart and Not Alone will bring Yarra’s live music artists, venues, studios, record stores, music labels, community radio stations and community organisations to present a 10-day festival in June 2020 across as many online platforms as possible.
The festival will work directly with the music community to showcase our live music industry in new and creative ways. It will continue to showcase music in all its forms, with new and old musical expressions, new and old ways of presenting music.
Yarra is encouraging venues, music labels and record stores to use this opportunity to experiment and innovate with isolation-friendly events. This could involve digital music performances, workshops, history tours, online music exhibitions, jam sessions, or even yoga or cooking with musicians.
The festival program will also promote venues, showcasing the history and endurance of established venues, and the diversity and invention of newer venues.
Yarra will give participating programmers a cash boost, in addition to publicity and promotion, to help make sure that wherever possible, artists, producers, promoters and Yarra music businesses will be paid for their work. Presenters can put on ticketed events or ask for fan donations, which they would keep for their artists.
Our community needs music and creativity more than ever, and our local live music industry needs our support more than ever.
The festival continues to be a celebration of the local music scene, for – and by – the local music industry. The need for physical distancing will change the way we present Leaps & Bounds in 2020, but the heart of the festival will remain the same.
Leaps & Bounds supports and acknowledges the considerable contribution that local musicians, venues, bookers, radio stations, studios, labels, record stores and punters make to our community, our city and our culture.
Leaps & Bounds 2020 – Apart and Not Alone
City Of Yarra is offering up to $1,000 to Yarra based music venues, record stores, studios, and labels towards staging an online event (funds can be used for multiple events) as part of the Leaps & Bounds Music Festival.
- Deadline for submissions: Wednesday 6 May 2020
- Program launch: Wednesday 27 May 2020
- Festival dates: 11–27 June 2020
