The fifth Mornington Winter Jazz and Blues Festival is kicking off in just a few weeks, and with a fantastic line-up of Peninsula and national artists pegged to play you have every excuse to throw on your winter woollies and head to the Mornington Peninsula for a weekend of great entertainment.

Mornington’s bars and restaurants will come alive with the sound of swingin’ jazz and smooth blues from Friday, June 9-Sunday, June 11 across the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.  In addition, this year sees a return of the ever-popular Main Street Festival Market on Saturday, June 10, plus historic walking tours of the township and rides on the steam locomotives of the Mornington Railway.

You’ll find a variety of performances on offer this year, including the supremely talented Olivia Chindamo at The Rocks Mornington on Friday, June 9. Best known for her effortless ability to improvise or ‘scat’ and as the 2016 Bell Award winner for Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year, Olivia has firmly cemented her place in Australia’s flourishing jazz scene.

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and educator James Morrison will perform an intimate show at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery on Saturday evening. A Mornington favourite, this Celebration of Jazz performance will be everything you want and more. Closing off the festival celebrations on Sunday evening at the Grand Hotel is the amazingly talented and exquisite Kate Ceberano with All That Jazz, a must-see for every festival-goer.

Of course, crowd favourite performances are back with the Mornington Library After Dark Series and Back2Back Blues at Beaches on Sunday. Gods Kitchen has a host of free performances all weekend, and for something a little bit different Casa De Playa will be home to a sassy jazz line-up. If foot-stomping blues is more your style then Double G Saloon has you sorted, or you can plan a weekend of restaurant hopping as you choose from the wide variety of entertainment on offer around town.