Southern Fried Festival, Perth’s annual celebration of American Roots music, will be taking a break for 2019. The festival, which has taken place in Perth Concert Hall, Perth Theatre and other city centre venues for the past eleven years, plans to return in the summer of 2020. Budget pressures and the availability of headline artists were cited as factors behind the decision.
“In its eleven years, we have welcomed a veritable who’s who from the Americana world to Perth for the Southern Fried Festival and created a genuinely world-class event,” said festival director Andy Shearer announcing the decision. “The festival has attracted a loyal fanbase from all over Scotland and beyond, many of whom return year after year. Our aim is always to make each festival better than the one before and I believe that we have achieved this in the great spread of artists and events we have attracted to Perth over the years.”
“Building the festival from the ground up over the past few years has been a real labour of love for me and while this has been a hugely difficult call to make on a personal level, I know it’s the right and responsible professional decision under the unique circumstances we find ourselves in this year. We look forward to coming back in 2020 with another great Southern Fried line-up and meeting up with all our festival family and friends again.”
In the meantime, it is hoped that the active Southern Fried social media community will continue on their Facebook and Twitter. The festival invites feedback and suggestions from fans.