The Festival of Small Halls comes to Brungle
Published on 14 February 2022
The Brungle Memorial Hall is throwing open its doors to host the 2022 Festival of Small Halls tour.
Supported by Snowy Valleys Council the Brungle Festival of Small Halls tour is being held on Thursday 24 February featuring long-time Australian festival audience favourites Karen Lee Andrews and Juzzie Smith, with local musician Daisy James playing the support slot.
Snowy Valleys Council’s Executive Director Community and Corporate Paul Holton said Council was proud to be supporting the event in partnership with members of the Brungle community.
“Council is committed to supporting creative and cultural activities and events across the region and the Festival of Small Halls is a great way to celebrate our iconic local halls and the volunteers that are integral to our local communities,” said Mr Holton.
“We’re pleased to see the Festival of Small Halls come back to the Snowy Valleys region again this year,” he said.
Presented by veteran festival producers Woodfordia Inc, the twenty-fifth edition of the much-loved not-for-profit music tour is taking on a packed tour schedule with the finest of Australia's home-grown talent to twenty community halls in New South Wales, including the Brungle Memorial Hall.
Brungle Hall Committee member Rodney Purcell said the Brungle Hall was originally set to host the Festival of Small Halls tour back in 2020 but it was postponed due to COVID.
“We were all pretty gutted when the 2020 tour was cancelled as we’d put in lots of hard work, so when the chance came up to host again this year we jumped at it,” said Mr Purcell.
The event provides fundraising opportunities for the local hall committee as well as providing a wonderful live musical performance which the festival producers hope will draw in audiences from the local area and across the region.
“We hope people will come out in big numbers to support our amazing Hall and our fundraising efforts, it’s sure to be a fantastic night of live music and entertainment,” Mr Purcell said.
Entry to this special night is $20 for adults, $15 for students and concession holders, and children under 13 years accompanied by an adult are free.
The Brungle community volunteers will be putting on a delicious spread of
BBQ and salads at $15 a plate and $5 for tea/coffee and cake option (cash only).
Food and refreshments from 5:30pm and doors open at 6:30pm.
Tickets are available online via www.svc.nsw.gov.au/Festival-Brungle
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Karen Lee Andrews is in possession of a unique sense of artistic purpose. Surrounded by music her entire life, Karen’s career to date has largely revolved around classic soul and rhythm and blues sounds, but in recent years, as her musicality has evolved, she’s been leaning more towards blues. The influence of soul, gospel and Karen’s Polynesian background continues to inform what she does, but the blues has come to feel more like home. The beginnings of this shift were apparent on Karen’s 2018 EP,‘Far From Paradise’, which served as a declaration of independence following several years appeasing the expectations of a major label.
A true musical virtuoso with a style that is bluesy/folk mixed into a world of its own, Juzzie Smith is a ridiculously talented one-man band, based in Byron Bay. Juzzie gives performances that are marked by an amazing ability to play guitar, harmonica and percussion at the same time using all of his body. It seems Juzzie is at home holding anything that makes a sound, and he combines this with a real rhythmic talent and a raw, warm vocal style. The result is truly engaging, mesmerizing music that makes you want to move and leaves you feeling inspired. This is a show that has spread to over 200 million views on social media and placed on the top of the iTunes blues charts all around the world.
Daisy James first got into music when she was young via her musical family. Daisy started with just singing lessons which helped grow her confidence and she soon moved to busking with her cousin and grandfather. In her early high school years Daisy found an interest in guitar as she thought it would be cool to know how to accompany herself. Daisy taught herself the basics and that's kept her going so far. Over the past couple of years Daisy has done some local gigs including Falling Leaf Festival, Battle of the Bands, and Tumut Takes 2. Daisy was also lucky enough to be a part of NSW schools spectacular for three years in a row which she found to be such a fun experience. Daisy is so excited to be a part of the Festival of the Small Halls this year and wants to express her gratitude again for the opportunity!
ABOUT THE BRUNGLE MEMORIAL HALL
The Brungle Memorial Hall stands on land traditionally owned by the Wiradjuri people.
Brungle is a small village, which local lore suggests, sits along Banjo Paterson’s “The Road to Gundagai.” You will find it where “The mountain road goes up and down, from Gundagai to Tumut town.” The original Brungle Hall was built with dancing and music in mind. It was opened on 24th May 1907 with a ball. In 1926 the building was renamed Brungle Memorial Hall. The larger auditorium was built on in 1935. Another opening ball was held, this time attended by 400 people. The hall was home to the first WWII honour board in the district and a memorial fence was erected in 1949.
The hall quickly captured the heart of the village. Host to dances, meetings, parties, weddings and wakes, it has played a part in many special occasions. More recently it has once again become a venue for concerts and markets. In 2017, the original hall had to be pulled down and was replaced with a new kitchen, supper room and toilets. The main auditorium retains the original character of the building.