The 10-day festival in Australia runs November 23 to December 2, with 40 events including showcases of Spanish, jazz and Indian music, master classes, art exhibitions by guitarists, seminars covering the problems women face, and discussions on where the music is heading in the 21st century. It winds up with a star-studded tribute to Jimi Hendrix.
The event is the brainchild of the Adelaide Festival Centre, whose new CEO Douglas Gautier told Pollstar the festival is part of his strategy to double the attendance at the venue in five years.
The South Australian government has committed funds for it for four years, seeing it as a way to rebrand it as "the festival state."
The festival's CEO is Christine Schloithe, a longtime employee of the Festival Centre. New York Guitar Festival co-founder David Spelman has been retained as artistic consultant.Spelman and Reid joined Gautier, Schloithe and minister acting for the arts John Hill onstage when the festival launched May 28 in Adelaide.
Reid introduced proceedings with a feedback-driven Hendrixian rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" followed by a similar rendition of the unofficial Australian anthem "Waltzing Matilda" by Aussie blues virtuoso Jeff Lang. Lang and Kaukonen will be artists in residence for the festival.