Kicking off on Saturday, the 16-day festival will be held in and around Kings Parade.

The festival will feature two huge street parties, with the first, Ignite the Night, on this Saturday from 5-9pm.

The community is invited to soak up the festival atmosphere at the party while being entertained by a range of performers.

Among them are Liz Talbot, 17, and Tameka Kennedy, 17, who will perform as part of Bathurst Youth Council’s YJAM entertainment.

The YJAM stage will be at the George Street end of Kings Parade, with music to start at 5pm.

Liz and Tameka performed at last year’s festival and are excited about Saturday night.

Bathurst High student Tameka is a self-taught guitar player and singer and she will sing a range of originals and covers during her performance from 7-7.30pm.

“I like to help promote youth music and get my name out there,” she said.

Kelso High student Liz is a self-taught pianist and singer and she will perform from 7.40pm to 8.10pm.

“I like performing and getting up on stage, it’s like my meditation,” she said.

Liz and Tameka are two out of a group of six YJAM performers this Saturday.

Performance program for Saturday, July 1