The Riv Talks

Guitarist and singer-songwriter Kathleen Halloran is returning for the third time to the Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival. And if you didn’t know already, she's someone everyone should catch at this year’s event, which runs from July 23 to 26. In this episode of The Riv talks …, and the fifth and final for 2026 about the Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival, Kathleen talks about getting to here in...

The Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival is on again this year, throughout the twin towns from July 23 to 26.  2023 Memphis International Blues Challenge winner Frank Sultana is among those returning to the festival. In this episode of The Riv talks …, and the fourth for 2026 about the Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival, Frank talks about how he won the Memphis event, as well as what he has bee...

Cass Eager wants everyone to get off the couch and come on down to the 2026 Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival. In this episode of The Riv Talks … and the third talking about the winter blues festival, Cass talks about growing up always singing, her first band and playing for the troops. McPherson Media Group acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country across our regions and recognises their co...

In this episode of Riv Talks … , we chat to an Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival regular, internationally renowned blues-roots singer-songwriter Geoff Achison.  Geoff talks about his long blues career, including the moment when blues music became his lifelong learning and his annual gig at the Echuca library during the Winter Blues Festival.  McPherson Media Group acknowledges the Tradi...

In this episode of Riv Talks …, we step back to the 2025 Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival and speak to 19-Twenty frontman Kane Dennelly and blues guitar legend Nathan Cavaleri.  At the time, Nathan had released a new studio album and his first-ever live recording.  Nathan talks about the magic of Echuca Moama Winter Blues, which has brought him back to the festival more than once.&nbsp...

The 2026 Rochester Mural Festival starts on Saturday, March 21, and runs through the following weekend.  You can watch 10 artists from across Australia complete live paintings in the town’s Mural Park. In this episode of The RIV talks… we speak to artists Marco Pennacchia and Kerry Nicholson about why they paint, what they paint and what keeps bringing them back to the mural festival each yea...

James Taylor's songs are bookmarks in many people’s lives, and Darren Coggan takes seriously his responsibility to recreate the songs as accurately as possible. The result is the show Fire and Rain - The James Taylor Songbook, which is playing at the Echuca Paramount Theatre on Saturday, March 28 at 7.30pm. I’m Riv journalist Jaci Hicken, and in this episode of The RIV talks … I spoke to Darr...

In this episode of The Riv talks …  we have spent some time with three of the acts performing at the 2026 Riverboats Music Festival - Norwood, Queenie and Merpire.  Norwood is an alternative folk band from Melbourne, featuring singer-songwriters Olivia Bolmat and Nathaniel Peacock. Formed through a shared admiration of upfront lyricism and inseparable harmonies,&...

In this episode, RIV Talks visited the Border Flywheelers Club heritage Museum at Barham. And caught up with Malcolm Boyd, who, along with his wife Lynn and another member, Gwen, is a curator at the museum. The Border Flywheelers Heritage Museum is a place you could spend more than a couple of hours at exploring the local past, which is being preserved for the future by a dedicated bunch of volunt...

The Echuca-Moama story is tied to the many river boats that call the mighty Murray River home. One of those boats is the PS Alexander Arbuthnot, which was first built in 1916 as a barge before being commissioned as a paddle steamer in 1923. In 1947, the PS Alexander Arbuthnot sank, then was salvaged in 1972. The remarkable story of the PS Alexander Arbuthnot's salvage has been chronicled in a book...

'Wonderland on the Murray', a spectacular sand sculpture trail featuring scenes from Alice in Wonderland, running from December 13, 2025 to March 9, 2026 in Echuca Moama. The trail, stretching between the historic Port of Echuca and Kerrabee Reserve in Moama, will showcase eight large-scale handcrafted sand installations created by Sandstorm Events. The collaboration between Murray River Council,...