Music is a big part of the Bluff Oyster & Food Festival and another great line up has been organised for this year’s event.

After having their fill of Bluff Oysters and the many other food choices available, many settle in to enjoy the variety of acts on the main stage throughout the afternoon.

The main stage is the venue for much of the entertainment and as patrons enter the festival venue the Mapu-Kuki-Airani Rarotongan drummers will be warming up the crowd.

Then at 11am the Invercargill Pipe Band pipe the Bluff Oyster onto the stage, the Ode to the Oyster is recited and the festival is officially opened.

After the formalities the Bluff School Kapa Haka performance, scheduled for 11.20am, is always a popular fixture on the entertainment programme.

Next up will be SIT SoundNZ, a group of third year bachelor students from Southern Institute of Technology.

They’re built up of talented and diverse members, each with unique backgrounds and skillsets ready to rock out an assortment of popular and beloved songs.

Hoodaki, a 3-piece Indie/Rock/Pop/Alternative band from the deep south of New Zealand with a bit of a British twist with a dash of Dunedin sound thrown in, follow.

Originally a covers band that played the occasional original, they have morphed into an originals band that plays the occasional twisted cover.

A Polynesian dance off follows and then The Eastern take the stage.

Four albums and well over 1000 shows deep The Eastern have played and toured with Fleetwood Mac, Steve Earle and Old Crow Medicine Show amongst others.

‘No Depression’ magazine noted they were, “one of the best modern roots acts, from any country”.

Both Radio NZ and the NZ Herald described them as “National Treasures” and The Herald’s Graham Reid called singer Adam McGrath “NZ’s toughest minded songwriter”.

NZ country legend Barry Saunders simply called them “The Truth.”

Lachie Hayes follows after The Eastern and needs little introduction to local audiences.

From a family of musicians Hayes is Southland born and Catlins bred and scooped many awards at the 2018 Southland Entertainment Awards taking the Album and Single of the Year plus the Southland Entertainer of the Year.

Brenny & The Bushwhackers end the entertainment programme.

They have maroon blood pulsing in their veins.

Their Southland-centric sound is a fusion of bluegrass, a bit of country, and a whack of the Irish, with an underlying rural punk flavour bringing their songs about southern battlers to life with their distinct sound.

The Whackers will take you on a journey from the whale-killing fields of the 19th century south coast all the way through to Invercargill's Dee Street in the back seat of a Ford Falcon, with a stop at the duck pond along the way.

The Bushwhackers are currently in the midst of releasing their first album and consist of Brendon Fairbairn, Liam Fairbairn, Lachie Hayes, Chris Chilton and Antonio Mercuri.