Patti Smith to Play Bluesfest 2017

After a three-year campaign from event organisers, iconic American rock poet Patti Smith will make her long-awaited return to the Australian stage at the annual Bluesfest next year, where she will perform her critically acclaimed debut 1975 album Horses in its entirety.

The performance has been described as a major coup by festival director Peter Noble: "It must be hard to believe, but it is very true, that months, and in a few cases, years of work have gone into this artist announcement" he said. "It has taken over three years to get the very in-demand Patti Smith confirmed".

The rest of the Bluesfest bill is a heady mixture of music legends, modern stars, a few modern indie favourites and those who fall somewhere in between.

Denver folk outfit The Lumineers return for a second Bluesfest appearance, while on the legend front, the unstoppable Buddy Guy (pictured below) and Mavis Staples will both be appearing at Bluesfest exclusively in 2017.

Booker T brings his Stax Records Revue to Australia for the first time, funk mastermind Roy Ayers makes a welcome return to the Bluesfest stage and political punk Billy Bragg makes good on a long held promise to come and play the festival.

One of the longest running music events in Australia, over 28 years Bluesfest has successfully blended its bill of veteran architects of the genre with a younger breed of artists who fuse everything from rock to hip-hop. The annual festival attracts audiences of over 100,000 across five days.

Next year's festival will run from Thursday13th - Monday 17th April, 2017.

Tickets on sale now through www.bluesfest.com.au.