Kate Bush everywhere

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SYDNEY (AFP) – Dancing fans draped in red mirroring Kate Bush’s iconic Wuthering Heights video gathered in their hundreds to celebrate the British singer’s birthday in Sydney yesterday – embracing the event after a two-year COVID hiatus.

Paying homage to the 1978 chart-topper, a wide range of Bush diehards turned out to Sydney Park in the city to mark the day – a global tradition known as ‘The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever’ which dates back to 2013.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for a couple of years,” Sharbill Lahood, sporting a Bush-styled wig, iconic red dress, flowery accessories and lipstick-lined grin, told AFP.

“We had lockdown over the past couple of years, so we didn’t get the opportunity to do so. So really excited to get back into it today,” the 34-year-old said.

“It’s Kate Bush, her birthday, it’s Wuthering Heights Day. It’s a day of celebration, it’s just a day for everyone to have fun and spread some joy,” he added.

Although Wuthering Heights might not have enjoyed the resurgent fame of Running up that Hill – which was catapulted back into the charts this year by Netflix’s hit TV show Stranger Things – the passion for all of Bush’s decades-old tracks was palpable.

“Her music is very ethereal,” Jane McNally, 63, said.

“She is able to put the emotion and the expression of what she’s saying in her lyrics into her dancing as well. So it’s a double kind of a bonus with Kate Bush,” McNally said.

Fans dressed up as Kate Bush in ‘Wuthering Heights’. PHOTO: AFP