San Cisco playing on the main stage at the SOTA Music Festival
By Cassandra Glover
As part of the WA Day celebrations, the SOTA music festival was put on for free this year presenting some of Western Australia’s best musicians.
The State of the Art (SOTA) music festival is an annual event staged by Celebrate WA, with artists booked by Western Australian Music (WAM).
“The purpose of the event is to support, nurture and grow the creative opportunities for local artists, and to highlight the depth of talent and diversity that make the WA music scene arguably the strongest in the nation,” said Celebrate WA spokesperson, Catherine Hoxha.
The fifth annual SOTA festival was held at Elizabeth Quay this year, showcasing some of the best the WA music industry has to offer, including headlining acts San Cisco, Jebediah, Ta-Ku and Koi Child.
It is the first year that the event has been affiliated with WA Day Celebrations, as well as being the first year that the event has been held for free.
“The board of Celebrate WA made the decision to make SOTA free this year for the first time to enable all Western Australians to enjoy the massive range of musical talent on offer,” said Ms Hoxha.
“It’s an exceptional thing for them to make this a free event, and I think everybody is enjoying themselves,” said event photographer Bob Garnant.
Despite the rainy weather, approximately 25,000 people had flowed through the WA Day festival at Elizabeth Quay by mid-afternoon.
With the impressive line-up of WA musicians the SOTA licensed area reached its capacity with 4,500 people coming to enjoy the nine hours of music.
All the stage areas at the event were undercover so people could enjoy the performances while sheltered from the cold and the rain.
“I expected to be freezing, but it’s actually okay under the marquee. It’s been totally worth it!” said Carly Foster, a SOTA attendee.
Here’s a snippet of San Cisco performing at SOTA. Apologies for the audio.