Missy Higgins, Peter Garrett and many more headline Riverboats Music Festival line-up

By Josh Huntly

Oct 23, 2023

Rocking the boat: After playing the Deniliquin Ute Muster in September, Missy Higgins will return to the region to play her first Riverboats festival since 2016. Photo: Supplied

Riverboats will rock again, with some massive acts confirmed for the music festival’s return to the Aquatic Reserve in February.

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Released on Monday, the lineup includes seven-time ARIA award winner Missy Higgins – back for the first time since 2016 - Australian rock legend Peter Garrett with the Alter Egos, country music superstar Kasey Chambers and popular rock band Regurgitator.

The February festival will be the 12th edition of Riverboats, and festival director David Frazer said it might be the biggest yet.

“I would say it’s our biggest lineup ever,” Mr Frazer said.

“To have the likes of Missy Higgins, Peter Garrett, Kasey Chambers, and Russell Morris on the one bill is a huge coup, and I hope that we can fill the town and put on a good show.

“To present artists of the calibre of Peter Garrett, who recently came off a farewell tour with Midnight Oil.

“This will be his first outing since that tour wrapped up. He’s going to play a bunch of Midnight Oil songs throughout his set as well.

“Regurgitator are a band a lot of our audience have grown up with. They packed out three nights at the Forum.”

The PS Pevensey will again put the boat in Riverboats with four acts set to take place on the iconic paddlesteamer, featuring performances by First Nation’s artist Kee’ahn alongside Minor Gold, JAZZPARTY and Sweet Talk.

The floating shows are one of the more unique aspects of a music festival you’ll find anywhere.

“Echuca Paddlesteamers have got behind us again, and we’re doing four shows on the Pevensey across the weekend,” Mr Frazer said.

“Those tickets are already about half sold. It’s the only festival in Australia you can do that.”

The festival is poised to return to its spiritual home in the Aquatic Reserve after last year’s event was forced into a relocation to Victoria Park due to the floods.

Riverboats has endured a mix of COVID-19 disruptions and inclement weather since 2021, and Frazer said it will be a thrill to return to the reserve with some redevelopment works at the site set to be complete in the next month.

“Last year was a wonderful event at Vic Park, but it was something that was certainly unplanned,” he said.

“We didn’t launch until mid-November last year; two days before we were due to launch, the water spilled over the amphitheatre.

“The local shire has been doing a fair bit of redevelopment down there at the moment. That’s all going to be completed by the end of next month. With that in mind, we’ve been working on a number of improvements to the overall festival experience.

“We’ll certainly have better access this year. They’re removing a large part of that creek and bridges down at Aquatic, so you’ll be able to move around easier.”

Brian Nankervis also returns as MC of the event, the 11th time he will do so.

Riverboats Music Festival will occur from February 16-18 at the Aquatic Reserve in Echuca.

To buy tickets and see playing times, head to https://www.riverboatsmusic.com.au/