Jazz and Jumpers in July Festival in Warwick

Queensland has lots of excellent festivals. One of my personal favourites is the annual Jazz, Jumpers in July in a Warwick which is a regional town approximately two hours drive south west of Brisbane.

This is the fourth year a group of friends and I have jumped into the car to do this as part of a long weekend of eating, dancing, listening to all sorts of jazz, shopping, going to markets, enjoying the yarn bombed trees and enjoying the country atmosphere of a pretty place with plenty of historical buildings. This week will be all about the exciting things to see and do in Warwick during and after the festival! Check it out next year when it runs across two weekends in July! http://www.jumpersandjazz.com/

Cherry Tree Café

Our first stop in our adventure was lunch at Cherry Tree café. We’ve enjoyed breakfast here in previous years. My friend had an interesting open toasty called a Marco Polo which said was very tasty. The highlight for her though was the warmed chocolate pudding with an oozy chocolate inside. I liked that the tea was decent loose leaf from T2 and not a horrible cheap teabag in a pot which a lot of venues try to pass off as “a pot of tea”. They do gluten free bread for those who need it but to be honest I didn’t rate the 3 filling toastie at all. It is literally 3 fillings that you pick e.g. bland cheese, day old chicken and a piece of tasteless tomato. The side salad was much nicer and had a nicer dressing and leaves so I ended up putting that on the toastie. They may have to pick up their game on this one item as not far down the road you can have a ridiculously good pulled pork version for a few dollars more! I like that this café also has art on the wall for sale and is bright and airy feeling. It’s fun pot luck to see what type of band plays outside during the Jazz Jumpers in July festival!

Belle Vue Café

For dinner on one of the nights we went to the Art Deco styled Belle Vue café which opened especially for dinner for just a few nights over the festival. I have eaten there previous years for fabulous breakfasts and really nice lunches because they do yummy food including gluten and dairy free. Check out their desserts cabinet, it’s to drool for!

With lovely original pressed metal ceilings and retro 1950s chairs and tables, this place has a fun vibe. The night we went was a special three course dinner. As we had half of our group with dietary requirements I gave some of these over the phone when I booked and then sent the rest when collected via their Facebook page. Boy are they responsive via Facebook! When it came to food time they had two menu options for each course (no one was stuck with an alternate drop) and they figured out dishes that the three of us freaks could all eat! I don’t know how they managed to make the food so delicious without the use of garlic and onions, but they sure did. Pumpkin or potato and leek soup for starters and then chicken Provençale or beef casserole for mains and then bread and butter pudding or apple crumble for dessert. For those of us with dietary requirements we ended up like kids in a candy store when picking from their dessert cabinet. I choose a dairy and gluten free decadent coconut chocolate slice that tasted so much like a Bounty bar!

The service was impeccable all night and our hostess checked on us all night to make sure what we were about to be fed was suitable. We didn’t realise it was BYO but a quick run to the drive thru bottle shop quickly fixed that! By the looks of the rest of the customers they were locals who knew what the go was and even had little eskies!

The duo the Blue Violets were awesome and I loved their Brittney Spears swing/jazz version of “Oops I did it again”! I think it may have been a little modern for a large portion of the crowd but we loved it when we realised! The ladies even came around to each table to thank us for coming out to see them. What a fabulous venue and fabulous night!

Bluebird Bar and Kitchen

I had recently read a review about Bluebird Kitchen and Bar in a paper in Brisbane and it got good reviews. The food leans more to the American side and they make a lot of their own items in-house including beautiful pulled pork and their own sauces and breads. We met up there for lunch on the Saturday for Jazz Jumpers in July with some locals we know who invited us there. They really love it and apparently the cherry pie and lychee ice tea (both home-made of course!) go quickly because they are so awesome! There seems to be plenty on the breakfast, lunch and share menus for people with dietary requirements.

As our visit coincided with a huge spike in activity at the venue I noticed a sign asking for patience during the unusually busy time due to the festival. It appears that some of the staff were ring-ins and they apologised for delays etc. It was actually kind of amusing that they had to wait for enough water glasses to be cleaned so we could have them, which is probably why the bottled cider came after we’d all finished out meals (they were brought with glasses). The lack of coordination between staff and the delays between food and drinks (food was first) would’ve been a little irksome if it hadn’t been for the food. OMG! My pulled pork jaffle with Swiss cheese was moreish and the bread was clearly not the weird funny tasting gluten free stuff you get elsewhere. I loved the plating too of some of the meals. The nachos and pulled pork hot chips were on little wooden boards but the bowls were made of baking paper twisted into bowl shapes! I would’ve taken photos but we were too busy scarfing it down.

These people clearly have passion for their food as our whole group loved their meals (don’t be put off by how their burgers look, just eat it and you will be delighted. If you don’t get a spoon for your hot chocolate just use another bit of cutlery as there is heaps of gorgeous chocolate sauce at the bottom of the cup!). We want to go back next year when hopefully there’s more glasses and better coordination of service (we had 2 people try to take our orders from our table but had difficulty getting bottles of water). But then again, who cares when the food it this good and really reasonably priced and in a cute, old fashioned service station!

Saturday Suitcase Rummage and Southern Downs Regional Market

The second Saturday of this event is generally a market and suitcase rummage. A large portion of the main street is closed off and like the suitcase rummages in Brisbane people bring suitcases of craft and second hand items to sell. Unlike the Brisbane ones where it is generally just rows and rows of young ladies who’ve cleaned out their wardrobes, this one had a bit more variety.

If the market part isn’t so much for you then take a stroll down the street to listen to all types of jazz all day and look at the yarn bombed trees. Grab a comfy couch in front of the main stage at City Hall and enjoy a bit of sun whilst enjoying a bit of music and crooning.

Adjoining it was also the Southern Downs Flavours market. In a previous year it was huge and part of the normal Sunday market in the park and there was heaps of wine and food to try and producers to talk to since this town sits right on the cusp of a wine and produce region (Granite Belt). This year however it was a lot more subdued with one winery and a few local producers. Let’s hope this was just dipping the toe into trialling the Saturday version and next year will be even bigger and better!

Warwick Sunday Potters Craft Market

This is a huge event in Leslie Park! There’s things to eat and a lot of handmade or second hand goods to buy. They have also now have a purpose built stage which had of course, more jazz! I bought vintage cutlery and jewellery but there was just so many talented people selling their wares!

The RSL

In Warwick during the Jazz and Jumpers in July Festival there's plenty of choice of what to do on a Saturday night. We chose the RSL to see and dance to the swing jazz band The WellSwung Daddies. The Daddies were on form and had most people up and dancing from early on. They played two nights and two lunchtimes over the weekend and were always on form.

I see that the RSL has a number of shows on a Saturday night during the year (and are very responsive on Facebook as opposed to the website contact us form).

I see that the function room has been redone since we were last there two years ago. Pity it looks like a conference room all the time, although I'm sure it's useful to have these. I also think that flickering light effects don't work so well when they are ordinary lights, best just to leave them dimmed. Great acoustics though but could've used a temporary wooden dance floor, it's harder to dance on carpet.

I can recommend that at least one in your group buys a yearly membership for only $7, the drinks are a great price anyway but they are even better at member's prices. $11 for a bottle of Shiraz! I can pay that for just a glass in Brisbane!

Although if you do fall in love with a tipple be aware that they may not have the same thing in the functions bar that they have in the main bar. As well some items are only sold by the glass and not the bottle, so you may be in and out between the two bars a few times.

Still it was a great, cheaply priced night out!

Gardens Galore

This is a cafe, homewares and gardening centre. From the front it looks unassuming and tiny but once you step inside it seems to keep going on forever. We wouldn't have even looked twice at this place if it hadn't been recommended to us by some locals. But boy am I glad we went there! The breakfasts are fresh, delicious and beautifully plated. There are plenty of well labelled options for those with dietary requirements such as gluten free blueberry pancakes. Great prices and generous portions. I didn't need to eat again until late afternoon!

53 on Victoria

In Warwick there's a wide variety of accommodation options. I've stayed in the open plan room at McNevins where you really have to like the people you are sharing the 5 person sleeping room with and you will have to probably drive to town. There are plenty of hotel rooms. There's 3 bedroom fully equipped units at the Jackie Howe Motel but my favourite so far is 53 on Victoria. A little more pricy than some of the previous accommodation but worth it for the 6 of us. 3 bedrooms, fully equipped kitchen and just really plush. As well as being stumbling distance from pretty much everything in town. Our drivers were able to park and not drive again until it was time to leave which means no worries about designated drivers!

An ice bucket and wine glasses? They know me well!

Modern bathroom and plush towels

A whole room for just the shower!

Nice modern furnishings and plenty of space and seating

What else is there to do?!

To wrap up this week from my recent trip to Warwick for the Jazz and Jumpers in July Festival I'll note some of the other fun things to do over the two weekends.

Check out the Art Gallery, there is always an interesting wool based exhibition. This year the wool art was on hats. It's also the tourist information centre in case you want to plan a trip further afield to say the nearby Granite Belt wine and food region.

Art at St Marks allows you to have a glass of wine, enjoy some jazz and maybe but some reasonably priced art and meet the artists.

Pack a picnic and take a ride on a steam train to Hendon and back. Check out the rail museum and have tea and scones in an old carriage.

Join one of the Town Crier historical walking tours or take a guided tour of the decorated trees.

Check out the Op shops and a good Rivers store.

Even the architecture provides old world charm.

There are so many more things to do during this festival that you may have to go back each year like I do just to try them all!

#Warwick #Jazz #OutsideBrisbane