Festival nets Katie

 PLANNING for the 2012 Village Festival at Yeppoon continues to pick up pace with the announcement of the some of the major artists scheduled to perform.Village Festival Programme Manager John Kehoe feels this year's program may be the best yet, with a diverse range of music showcasing some of Australia's best performers. In particular, the exciting addition of Katie Noonan to the program will take audiences on sublime excursions through jazz, pop and classical music. Katie Noonan's technical mastery and pure voice make her one of Australia's most versatile and beloved vocalists. A mother, singer, producer, songwriter, pianist and business woman, this four times ARIA Award winning and six times platinum selling songstress first received widespread praise as the angel-voice of indie-pop band George. Her various releases include her folk trio's self titled album *elixir', the No. 1 selling classical album *Two of a Kind' with her mother Maggie and her gold-selling top ten solo album *Skin'. Katie has also worked with the country's top orchestra's including her recent fruitful collaboration with Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.As a warm-up in the coming weeks Keppel Coast Arts Council is partnering with Creative Capricorn in presenting Walter's Lounge at the Walter Reid Centre in Rockhampton on Sunday afternoon, July 15, and Sunday afternoon August 12. These events will commence at 2pm and offer live acoustic original music by local performers, as well as discussion and presentations by local artists.Walter's Lounge is open to the public. Admission is free.The Village Festival will include a diverse programme of creative workshops, street theatre and children's activities with a full programme available on the website soon. Further details of the 2012 Village Festival can be found at www.thevillagefestival.org.au or Facebook.