Power 50 - #11: Peter Noble

As Bluesfest creeps towards its 30th anniversary (it’s the 29th in 2018), it’s holding strong as over 100,000 punters went through the festival in 2017, its fourth consecutive year in the big six figures. Headlined by the legendary Patti Smith, along with Mary J Blige, St Paul & The Broken Bones, Zac Brown Band, NAS and more, it was no wonder that many punters came flooding through the gates. Folks were again salivating when 2018’s line-up was first announced, featuring the likes of Lionel Richie, Robert Plant, John Butler Trio, and Tash Sultana. And that was even after he shut down rumours that Jay Z was performing.

For the third year in a row, Bluesfest won the Best Major Festival & Event Award and as a result entered into the NSW Tourism Hall Of Fame. Patti Smith and Bluesfest Touring won Best International Contemporary Concert at the Helpmann Awards, while the festival was nominated for Best Contemporary Music Festival. And once again Bluesfest is shown to be punching above its weight against behemoths such as Glastonbury, Roskilde and Primavera Sound as it’s been nominated in international awards such as the UK Festival Awards (Best Overseas Festival) and the Pollstar Awards (International Music Festival Of The Year). This past January Noble also accepted the Keeping The Blues Alive Award from The Blues Foundation in Memphis, Tennessee on behalf of Bluesfest.

Last October, Bluesfest added Chief Operating Officer Steve Romer, which meant Noble moved into the position of Executive Chairman, allowing him to continue to focus on, as he stated, “booking talent as well as acquisitions that will take Bluesfest into an exciting new era.”