Blues at Bridgetown #Take12Trips

The second weekend in November is host to the annual blues festival in Bridgetown, a small country town in the south west of Western Australia. 

When we lived in Boyup Brook we'd go to the Blues at Bridgetown with mum - I was only young so I don't remember how many times we went, but I have memories of going and having a great time dancing in the streets to the live music.

Mum had been saying for months that she'd like to go again this year and when her friend said she'd get her a ticket for her birthday she was really excited. She told us that she'd love us to come if we were free. I was really excited because it was something we hadn't done together in about 15 years. 

The time flew by, as it seems to these days, and the blues weekend was upon us. It just so happened that it fell on the same weekend that Beyonce was playing in Perth, so I said to mum that I'd drive down and meet her in Boyup Brook (mum and another four friends were staying there for the weekend with the friend who had bought mum the ticket). 

Beyonce came on really late (it was worth it, she put on an amazing show) which meant that I didn't get to bed until after 1am. I had to be up and out the door by 7.30am at the latest so it didn't allow much time to sleep. 

I arrived in Boyup Brook just on 10.30am and once everyone was ready we drove into Bridgetown. 

It was a nice warm day and there were lots of people around enjoying themselves. It was the 21st Annual Blues at Bridgetown which was fun to be part of. We spent the day looking at the markets and listening to bands at a few different venues around the place. They had some great stalls to look at with lots of locals selling their products. And there was a stage with local bands playing near the markets which made for great entertainment. 

They have stages set up at a few of the pubs around town and also have other marquees and stages set up with bands playing all weekend. The pubs and some of the stages are free to go to, but some of the bigger stages require a ticket. When we arrived we had to swap my ticket for a wristband which gave me access to all the stages. 

You can either buy a ticket for the whole weekend or just a day, depending on how long you are staying. You also buy drink tickets for any drinks, including water and non-alcoholic drinks so that you can redeem them at the bar. The drinks were all pretty reasonably priced and they had a good variety. This was a really efficient way of selling drinks at the bar and there were never any queues which was nice. I'm curious as to how much money was spent on drink tickets that were never actually used though...

The bands were all really good and played some great songs. It was so nice sitting in the sun and spending time with mum and our friends while we were listening to the live music. There were people up the front dancing, others in chairs under the marquee and then some (including us) enjoying the sunshine, while sitting in the shade, out to the side of the stage. 

After a great day we decided to head back to Boyup Brook to get changed and have dinner before heading back in for the night. I'm glad we did because the temperature dropped dramatically so it was a good idea to rug up for the night. And lucky for me one of our friends is the same height and shoe size as me because in my rush to pack I hadn't packed a warm jacket or any other shoes besides jandals, and we learnt that you couldn't wear those in the pubs after 5pm. 

We arrived back in Bridgetown at about 9pm and went back to one of the main marquees to listen to the music there. Every band we heard was fantastic, they were all very talented. 

By 12am the last band was finishing up and it was time to head home. People had been gradually leaving all night so there was no big rush of people which was nice. 

I was so glad I went down and spent the time with mum. We always have such fun together and spending time with family and especially my mum is so important to me.

A challenge for you all... Over the next two months I'd like you all to call a family member and make plans to catch up. It can be a quick coffee, a long lunch or a weekend away. Whatever it is, plan it, and then do it! 

What better way to complete another trip in my challenge to #Take12Trips than by spending time with my favourite girl in the world.