Hello from Bello+Beyond…
This issue: Salvatore Rossano on how Taranta Festival became Bellingen's own — a totem, he calls it, landing October 30th. In light of this weekend’s Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival (bring yer wellies!) we're going Dorrigo-heavy too this week, with a day in Dorrigo mapped out from first coffee to last light, and Dorrigo Deli — the shop that started with one fridge in the family butchery. Big festival weekend ahead — plenty below…
What's On
It's festival weekend on the plateau. The Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival takes over the Showgrounds from Friday, now in its 24th year — three days of acoustic music, workshops and camping, family-friendly throughout. Hickory Street gets its own Handmade Markets — Folk & Bluegrass Edition on Saturday morning, timed to the festival crowd. And in Bellingen, Resonance brings four acclaimed jazz improviser-composers to the Memorial Hall on Friday night.
This Week's Journal Stories
Taranta Festival
Taranta Festival began as a transplanted Melbourne lineup; in Bellingen it became something else — a totem, Salvatore Rossano calls it, for what music and community can do for each other. This year's edition (30 Oct to 1 Nov) brings four international acts, a new Santa Taranta album six years in the making, and a program spread right across town.
Dorrigo Deli
It started with one self-serve fridge of cheese and olives in the family butchery. Three years on, Dorrigo Deli is where you'd go to build a picnic, grab a delicious toastie, and get a coffee roasted locally by Botero — best taken outside, in the early sun, while the rest of Dorrigo wakes up around you.
A Day in Dorrigo
A full day on the Dorrigo Plateau: rainforest walks, a century-old pub, a Korean kitchen hiding inside an art gallery, and a motorcycle museum that's half sculpture, half mystery. Here's how to spend it properly.
Freshly Added
The listings library keeps growing — this week we've added Anandua to Local Life and Dorrigo & Beyond to Shop Local.
Good to Know
Last chance to catch Cash Savage & The Last Drinks at the Loyal Bellingen Golf Club tonight. See tickets →
The Blue Door is doing its first Sunday Roast this weekend — a 1.1kg dry-aged, pasture-raised Bello beef rib eye or sirloin, cooked on the fire and served on the bone with sides. See the post →
Bellingen's town-wide Mug Library needs a top-up after the school holidays — fill a box with your preloved ceramic mugs, label it “Mug Library” and drop it at the depot on Church Street. Learn more →
One Last Thing
If you've been enjoying these letters, the easiest way to help is to forward this one to a friend and let them know Bello+Beyond exists — word of mouth is how a platform like this grows in a place like this.
And if there's something we're missing, getting wrong, or could be doing better to keep this useful for all in the Shire, we'd genuinely like to hear it — drop us a line any time at [email protected].
See you in the Shire…
Bello+Beyond