They say the best things in life are free - and it would be hard to find a music lover in Kiama at the weekend who would disagree.
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Latin-infused jazz, rockabilly blues, boogie, gumbo and swing; it was all on offer at the 28 annual Kiama Jazz and Blues Festival.
More than 5000 people flocked to the seaside town for the three-day event, which featured more than 70 free gigs at dozens of cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars.
Among the favourites were blues royalty The Foreday Riders and Sydney-based Pena Flamenca, which impressed crowds with Latin-infused jazz and flamenco dancers.
"It has been a fantastic weekend ... we had some stellar musicians on Saturday night and every venue was packed," festival committee member Eevi Stein said.
The bumper program is one of the biggest in the festival's history - a sign of strong support for the event, Ms Stein said.
"Instead of just one musician over the weekend, some of the smaller venues wanted to host two gigs and that's really encouraging, because it's a good sign that the community wants to be more involved.
"We're just a couple of hours away from Sydney and we're well-placed from Wollongong and all areas of the South Coast, really its a lovely place to duck away to and enjoy some good music."
