Evandale's Scot talent: verandah festival brings international flavour

Now in its fourth year, the boutique COVID-born festival will spread 24 acts across 10 Evandale verandahs on the weekend of November 25-26.

The event will showcase many genres - folk, blues, jazz, country, rock, classical and pop - and a growing contingent of international-born musicians.

Ticketholders can look forward to seeing a Japanese banjo player who performs mostly Irish music (Montz and Voicestrings), a classical Indian singer on ukulele (Ipshita Pratap), and two Scottish performers.

"One goes by the name the Scotsman - he wears a kilt apparently, I'm looking forward to seeing that - and accompanies himself on ukulele," Festival co-ordinator Jeff McClintock said.

"[Then there's] Marcus Sturrock who has only recently moved to Tasmania.

"He's world class, he's played at folk festivals all around the world and we're really lucky to have him. He was one of the pioneers of using the body of the guitar as a percussion instrument.

"We're really excited about having these international performers."

The festival can be traced back to 2020, when two Evandale families performed from their balcony to "lighten the mood" for residents taking lockdown strolls.

Taking the concept to bigger crowds has proved a hit, and this year's event will draw between 1200 and 1400 people.

"Verandahs are really functional for playing music because they help project the sound and they provide cover for musicians," Mr McClintock said.

"There's so many gorgeous verandahs around Evandale so it makes sense to do it here - it's very specific to Evandale."

Tickets are available at verandahmusicfestival.com