THE countdown to the 2019 CHANGE Original Music Festival has officially begun after the event was launched in Gawler on Thursday night.

The popular three-day showcase, which was named Gawler’s Community Event of the Year in January and is entering its sixth year, will see artists perform at the Kingsford Hotel on October 6 and 7, and at the P/A Hotel the following Sunday, October 13.

Nine bands – Ron the Ox, Moss Band, Release the Hounds, Jessie Jasmine, Post Fiction, The Chairmen, Exeter Blues, Matt Hawkins, and Hoggy’s Barrow Band – will take the stage to play their original songs.

Speaking at the launch event at the Kingsford Hotel, festival convener and local musician Martin Johnson said since inception CHANGE has welcomed over 100 musicians to Gawler.

“Every one of them wanted to come back,” he said.

“Gawler’s CHANGE Original Music Festival is a unique and inspirational event developed in an attempt to promote original songwriters, singers and musicians.

“The event also provides suburban Gawler and the outlying communities with the opportunity to experience new sounds and musical interpretations.

“Without the support of local business, the festival would simply not exist.”

Kingsford Hotel publican Tony Harnett has been a strong supporter of CHANGE and praised Mr Johnson for continuing to organise the event.

“We really appreciate what Martin’s doing, it’s a great event for the town and a great event for the Kingsford,” he said.

“It attracts a wide variety of people who come along and see the event, it gets people interested, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Gawler mayor Karen Redman, addressing guests at the launch, said blending original and live music was the “perfect combination” and was why the festival has been so well received.

“It’s okay to have cover bands, that’s fine, but original music really shows off your creativity as musicians,” she said.

“Something really special happens when musicians get together, you get taken into a different space.

“It is something amazing for Gawler to have this type of festival in our main street, not in a massive venue where you have to pay huge amounts of money.

“(It’s) supporting our pubs, our local street, our community, but it’s properly supporting musicians who deserve to get paid for what they do.

“What this festival does is not only pay them for their time, but we get so much out of it, and our town and region gets an enormous amount out of it.”

For more information, visit the CHANGE Original Music Festival Facebook page.