But the beauty of Bello Winter Music and its diverse, multi-genre programming of established and emerging acts is that there is always something new to discover.

Bello Winter Music is a musical treasure hunt that literally takes patrons on an adventure through the cafés, halls, parks and bars of the beautiful riverside town of Bellingen. On every corner you’ll find festival-goers poring over the program booklet (old school), deep in discussion about what band to catch and in which venue.

Some meticulously plot their course, some follow the talk they’ve heard on the street, many inevitably throw plans to the wind and succumb to the serendipity of Bello. Whatever your method, there are many unexpected treasures to discover. Following are just a handful of musical gems worth looking out for in your Bello adventure.

30/70 are a Melbourne Hip-Hop and R&B family delivering signature hypnotic grooves drenched in love, weed, meditation and soul.

Beat disciples Ziggy Z, Hazy Hicks, Chaser and Thomas keep it tight in the rhythm section while Allysha Joy stays liquid smooth and grooves over jazz, hip-hop live beats.

Their first LP ‘Cold Radish Coma’ sold out on first pressings in under a month. The band is receiving a lot of attention overseas and particularly in Europe thanks to Rhythm Section as well as the release of ‘The Strut’ film clip through Stamp The Wax.

Fri | Memorial Hall | 11.00pm

Sat | Diggers Tavern | 8.45pm

The Teskey Brothers are a band that makes you feel more at home than the hot drifting smell of rosemary Bolognese, or collecting your own eggs from the hatch down the hill. Why? Because they are family, and once you are in the audience, so are you. 

With influences such as; BB King, Albert Collins, Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye, they share with us city dwellers dynamics within a live sound that only clean country air and years of live gigging can provide. 

The Teskey Brothers are an important affirmation of something we have always loved and something we hope to never lose – Home, soul, Rhythm, and Blues

Fri | Golf Club | 8pm

Sat | Federal Hotel | 4.15pm

Sat | Diggers Tavern | 10.15pm

Sun | Memorial Hall | 6.00pm

Made up of three brothers and two mates, no other Australian band sounds like ’em. An explosion of funk, flute, sax, synth and groove, the dance floor is packed at a VAUDEVILLE SMASH gig. In case you’re wondering, they took their name from an Italian children’s karaoke machine that was around in the late ’80s.

In 2016, VAUDEVILLE SMASH released their sophomore album The Gift. A contemporary reworking of the early 80s funk/boogie scene, the album evokes visions of Cameo, Midnight Star and the Gap Band and encompasses almost two years of writing, recording and touring.

An explosion of funk, flute, sax, synth and groove, the dance floor is packed at a VAUDEVILLE SMASH gig.

Fri | Memorial Hall | 5.00pm

Sat | Memorial Hall | 7.15pm

Sun | Golf Club | 8.30pm

Archer is an old time sing-song man. He works the fruit picking rounds, sits under the sky a lot and drives a car if he has to.

He’s toured widely across Australia and Internationally, playing many major festivals. He's supported luminaries such as Martha Wainwright, Pokey Le Farge and CW Stoneking. Despite this you might find it hard to catch him. He'll appear off a road somewhere and sing you a few songs and then wander off into a forest leaving you wondering if it was a ghost story or a dream.

Fri | Brewery | 9.30pm

Sat | Cedar Bar | 2.00pm

Sat | Brewery | 6.16pm

Sun | Federal Hotel | 4.30pm

The Ukulele Death Squad are pushing the boundaries of the small 4 stringed instrument. With their own uke style, blending Flamenco, Mexican and Folk, and sold-out debut Adelaide Fringe shows, the squad will warp your perceptions of ukuleles one nylon string at a time.

With high energy, mad thumping rhythms and outrageous solos, the squad will quite literally blow your minds. Enter at your own risk

Fri | Cedar Bar | 10.45pm

Sat | No.5 | 5.30pm

Sun | No.5 | 1.30pm

Sun | Brewery | 6.30pm

Heartbreaker alt-country duo Miles and Simone weave their lonesome seaside lullabies and ballads with restraint - two sublime voices, catchy melodies, poetic lyrics and hilarious banter. The duet are currently recording their third record with acclaimed producer Dan Luscombe (The Drones, Courtney Barnett) who promises to draw out the darkness and grit from the pair's sweet and mournful love ballads. Slated for release in June 2017, the pair will tour the EP nationally through July.

Sat | Cedar Bar | 5.00pm

Sat | Diggers Tavern w/shop | 12.00pm

Sun | No.5 | 9.00pm

JO JO SMITH is one of Australia's greatest musical treasures, a sexagenarian pocket-rocket, soul-singing, groove-driving tour de force and 2017 marks her 50th year in the biz.

A widely and wildly lived life, there are hundreds of Jo Jo stories to tell. She was taken to Christchurch from Dunedin to be exorcised at 17; she was arrested and jailed in Madrid in 1975 for busking in the subway; that same year
she won the Queensland Entertainer of the Year award; she was the first woman to ever perform at the Byron Bay Blues Festival; she’s been the go-to backing singer for everyone from Renee Geyer to Marcia Hines and Olivia Newton-John; she’s a songwriter of great depth and beauty – as her 2013 album Standing in the Lovelight attests; not to mention one of the grooviest nylon-string guitar players AND drummers you’ll ever encounter ... Jo Jo traverses soul, blues and roots music with an effortless grace and energy.

“I sure don’t know any half-arsed Jo Jo fans.
You’ve either experienced the joy and wonder that is being in the same room as this woman singing and playing, or … you haven’t heard her yet!” Lucie Thorne (also on Bello line-up)

Fri | No.5 | 6.15pm

Sat | Memorial Hall | 1.15pm

Sun | Cedar Bar | 4.15pm

Bello Winter Music (6-9 July) is a small, family-friendly event that takes over the streets, cafes and halls of the NSW Mid North Coast town of Bellingen. This year's line-up of more than 90 acts includes Joe Pug, Ben Ottewell (Gomez), Bec Sandridge, Salmonella Dub and Tinpan Orange. Bello Winter Music is the love-child of Spring’s Mullum Music Festival and has sold out each year so book early. 

Tickets and camping information are available now at bellowintermusic.com.