Rain won't stop Kiama Jazz and Blues Festival going ahead

Organiser of the annual Jazz and Blues Festival, Becky Guggisberg said they were "refusing to lie down" with only "minor adjustments" to the three-day event - including moving their free Sunday festival indoors.

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Ms Guggisberg said the free Sunday session of music at Hindmarsh Park has now moved to "Kiama's Opera House", The Pavilion, next to the showground.

"We got rain bombed last night, lots of spaces are flooding, but the sun's coming out Thursday and Friday, Saturday and Sunday it will be be lovely," she told the Mercury.

Ms Guggisberg said she didn't want Kiama to be known as the land of cancelled gigs (after the Red Hot Summer Tour was postponed again last weekend) and they would just have to "suck it up".

"We're still getting calls from people from Brisbane that are still coming, and Melbourne and Canberra," she said. "It could be that most of Kiama leaves their house and comes to a great party or it could be lots of people from all over the place."

Ms Guggisberg said she was remaining optimistic for the weekend having managed to put on the festival in 2020 and in 2021, both narrowly missing out on lockdowns and heavy restrictions.

At this stage all 80 musicians are set to perform, though doubt does hang over a mere handful coming from Queensland.

From Friday to Sunday free and ticketed shows will be held at more than a dozen venues, along with an art exhibition, vinyl record fair and buskers.

Meantime, Wollongong's Spiegeltent is expected to open without a hitch this week.

The program, beginning with Circa's Peepshow, begins on Wednesday with the tent setup on a raised platform in the Arts Precinct.

"Confirming that The Aurora Spiegeltent is now up at Wollongong Arts Precinct and we don't currently anticipate any rain impact on our program, and all performances will be going ahead as scheduled," a spokeswoman for Merrigong Theatre Company said.

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