The streets of Kiama will soon be bustling with live music with the Kiama Jazz & Blues Festival returning 10-12 March.

This year will see some firsts for the annual affair, including the opening event at Gerringong Town Hall set to include a screening of award winning documentary Keep On Keepin’ On, followed by a Q&A talk with the director Alan Hicks, a Grammy award winning filmmaker.

After the movie, guests will be treated with a line-up of jazz performers who will give an epic Clark Terry tribute.

“It’s a bit of a red carpet event where you can dust off your fancy clothes and come along,” says festival organiser, Becky Guggisberg.

Another first for the festival, and an event Becky highly recommends, is the Sunday Street Party where the Justice Precinct will erupt into an arts precinct, with the Harbour end of Terralong St decorated with seating and food trucks.

The main stage will be at Black Beach for festival goers to enjoy live music and eat, drink and dance.

All weekend, Kiama will be alive with an array of live music happening across the festival hubs and other venues.

“A lot of the shops on Terralong Street are joining forces, and we will activate that street along Jazz Alley again,” says Becky.

Her top picks of hubs are Burnetts on Barney (above); the Manning St Top Shops – which will have a concert space set up in the back, perfect for any time of the day; and Filmores where the highly acclaimed artist Barney McAll will perform with his trio on Saturday.

“He is also doing a solo piano performance at Ss Peter & Pauls Catholic Church on Sunday. We are really privileged to have him,” Becky says.

“We’ve got some next level artists that I expect will just blow people’s minds.

“The beauty of this festival is that it appeals to all ages and our town becomes lively and inclusive.

“We forget the ho hum of the day-to-day and embrace the beauty, cohesion, creativity and freedom of our village.”

Visit kiamajazzandbluesfestival.com.au for more detail and tickets.