AS Easter draws near, one of the most enduring festivals in the region is swinging into gear. 

It’s the Four Winds Festival, preparing to return to its home property on glorious Barragga Bay, Bermagui, after a covid-enforced time out in the cold.

Cellist Matthew Hoy has stepped into the artistic role as creative director replacing Lindy Hume, who was in the role for two years. 

She is now interim creative director and artistic adviser for Opera Australia and he expects her to continue working in the region, so they’ll possibly work together again.

Hoy is now looking at ways of deepening the relationships and the connections that lie at the heart of a lot of the works and “bringing different worlds together”, for instance by combining Bermagui’s Yuin choir Djinama Yilaga with the Australian String Quartet.

Hoy’s boasting 70 of Australia’s finest artists on the program this year.

With community in mind, they’ll kick off on April 7 with a big, free community percussion and music event on Horseshoe Bay foreshore in Bermagui town centre, a picnic opening at the 1000-seat Sound Shell on Barragga Bay – sometimes known as “nature’s auditorium”. 

The idea is to signal a return to the festival site after last year’s enforced evacuation to Cobargo.

“We know a lot of attendees will be coming back to sit, relax and connect,” Hoy says.

Later in the afternoon the indoor Windsong Pavilion will be transformed with a visual and sound installation, “Wonga and the Waratah”, created by Four Winds Aboriginal creative producer Cheryl Davidson. 

At night, three performances take place in the pavilion, including the “After Dark” program featuring pianist Paul Grabowsky.

Hoy is aware that it’s pretty hard to beat the deepening evening sky at Barragga Bay and is taking full advantage of it on Saturday evening, first with “Celestial & Submerged Objects”, where he joins Lina Andonovska, Sonya Lifschitz and Madame Lark to play oceanic and heavenly work by American composer George Crumb.

Then as it gets dark, audiences will experience a moonlit event, “Eclipse”, starring First Nations-Islander singer Jess Hitchcock and neo-soul singer Ngaiire, supported by the Four Winds Festival Orchestra.

Kids are not forgotten. “Drip Drop Play” is an immersive experience for children aged 5-12 where Thea Rossen and Jared Yapp, as water diviners, use ice and water to create sound with children. 

A quirky inclusion is “Penelope”, inspired by Homer’s “Odyssey”, featuring Georgie Darvidis performing a mix of narrative, indie rock and chamber music.

Sunday’s performances all take place in the outdoor Sound Shell, opening with “Something Borrowed”, where the Four Winds Festival Orchestra will play music inspired by the great outdoors, followed by “Reflect”, where Timothy Young on piano plays work inspired by contemporary war, including Max Richter’s “ Nature of Daylight”, responding to the 2003 Iraq War. 

On Sunday afternoon, the festival culminates on the big stage with “Wata” (“Wind” in ancient Yolŋu) composed by Paul Grabowsky and led by Daniel and David Wilfred in the “manikay” tradition, invocations of time and place intended for public ceremonial events. 

Four Winds Festival, Barragga Bay, Bermagui, April 7-9.