Bells Line Country Music Festival to promote tourism, help area heal from fires, flood

The Bells Line Music Festival, an initiative of Jed Zarb of Muso Promotions with the support of Catholic Care Drop-In Centre Springwood, will take place at the Kurrajong Heights Bowling Club Green on October 29 from 11.30am.

Mr Zarb, a Bilpin resident, conceived of the idea to bring local businesses and the community together through music to help them "heal" from the horror bushfire season of 2019-2020.

The event will now be just as much about healing from the floods as it will be about trying to move forward from the fires.

Mr Zarb was the concert organiser for the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners - helping drought-affected outback Australia - and said it taught him the power of music concerts to stimulate community cohesion and resilience in crisis.

"When people are Isolated in crisis there is a sense of hopelessness, when people gather and form community, they start to become connected and eventually resilient," Mr Zarb said.

He said the area along Bells Line of Road from North Richmond to Mount Tomah was often a "forgotten part" of western Sydney and was worth celebrating.

The festival branding - combining promises of music, healing and community with the tagline 'where city meets country' - was designed to bring attention to the region, west of the river, as a destination, with its unique offerings in agriculture, B&Bs, hiking and bushwalking, and cider cellar doors.

"With mainly just seasonal agritourism (apple picking) to rely on to bring people over the river, it became obvious that we needed to diversify our region's allure and music seemed to be the void begging to be filled," Mr Zarb said.

The organisers aim to make the event free for those in the Hawkesbury affected by flood. It will be a family-friendly event, with children's entertainment as well as food and local produce stalls.

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Federal Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman, said after the devastation of floods and bushfires in the Hawkesbury over the past three years, events like the Bells Line Music Festival were "a welcome break in the clouds for exhausted local residents, and certainly provide a boost for small businesses and the local economy".

"I have long supported the thriving creative community within the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains, and as the newly-appointed federal Special Envoy for the Arts, I'm really happy to be a voice for community arts and entertainment events like the festival, which brings richness to people's daily lives," Ms Templeman said.

"I would urge anyone who is in a position to assist Jed with sponsorship and support to get the festival up and running and provide some free tickets to flood-affected locals to so do."

Mr Zarb is currently looking for acts to perform at the festival, as well as festival sponsors. Find out more and get in touch at www.facebook.com/Bells-Line-Music-Festival