The Woodford Folk Festival: Woodford, Australia

The Woodford Folk Festival is an event of international standing. Held over six days and six nights it presents more than 2000 performers and 400 events with concerts, dances, workshops, forums, street theatre, writers’ panels, film festival, comedy sessions, acoustic jams, social dialogue and debate, an entire children’s festival, art and craft workshops, late night cabarets and special events including a spectacular fire event.

The festival is a great place for a day visit particularly on one of Australia’s beautiful summer days. Starting and finishing early each morning, the Woodford Folk Festival has something for everyone, young and old, rhythmic or literary, festive or laidback.

With over 260 musical acts on five stages over the six-day event, the Concert programme features international performers and some of Australia’s best known musicians and groups.

The Amphitheatre on New Year’s Eve comes alive with a huge party featuring the largest array of performers ever assembled in Australia. This year it will be an exciting colourful party for patrons to welcome in the New Year and to join together for a dawn chant on Ceremony Hill, overlooking the Glasshouse Mountains.

With a huge cast of over 1000 people taking part on the first night of the year, Paul Lawler and a team of over 120 artists stage a spectacular fire event. The fire is a symbol of transformation and hope. Enacted to an audience of around 15,000 people, the night is alive with large puppets, parades, dance, and lanterns and climaxes in a spectacular celebratory burning of an enormous fire sculpture.

Comedians appear in various events throughout the Festival programme, adding their special brand of comedy as stand-ups, as well as debates, workshops and competitions. In addition to an exciting visual arts programme with workshops and exhibitions, the Festival has created a sculptural parkland with the installation of ‘Seven Silences’, a seven piece large scale sculpture installed on Ceremony Hill at the Festival. Witness some of Australia’s most committed environmentalists at ‘The Greenhouse’, a venue dedicated to environmental education, featuring talks, films and debates. A Festival patrons’ favourite – some of Australia’s best moving images in dedicated cinemas showing feature films, Australian documentaries as well as finalists in the Woodford Short Film Competition.

When?

The festival runs from the morning of 27 December 2003 to the evening of 1 January 2004. The fire event will finish at approximately 9:00pm, however there are still performances on after this time, till the early hours of January 2.

Where?

Located in between the Brisbane Valley and Queensland’s beautiful Sunshine Coast Hinterland, the Woodford Folk Festival takes place in a rural valley surrounded by natural bushland with plenty of native wildlife and a superb view of the Glass House Mountains from the hill-top above the festival grounds. The festival is about an hour and a half drive from Brisbane, or 40 minutes from Caloundra.

Tickets?

Tickets are on sale from May, the early bird will receive great discounts on the ticket prices, up to 25% off. Season tickets are vaild for the entire festival and range from $213 for an Adult to $180 for a child over 12 years old. Day & Evening tickets are vaild for one full day except New Years Eve, Special New Years Eve tickets must be purchased. Prices range from $55 for an Adult to $46 for a child over 12 years old.

Artists!

International Guests

National Guests

Venues!

Amphitheatre The natural amphitheatre hosts stars under the stars. A special feature at this year’s amphitheatre is a 200 strong orchestra in a full-scale musical production, for only two nights. Then dance till you can’t dance no more to some of the best Australian and international acts on offer, and sit in quiet contemplation with over 5000 fellow festivilians for the beauty and ritual of the closing fire ceremony on January 1st.

Backstage Club The Backstage Club is the place to get up-close and personal with your favourite folk. See every bead of sweat and every flick of the wrist under the dim lights and cloudy mirrors of the Backstage Club.

Big Top The second largest venue at the Festival, the Big Top is a non-stop party. With a mind-blowing showcase series, special guests and some guaranteed hoe-downs.

Blues Hot zydeco, delta, country, cajun, roots, vintage and good old fashioned Blues Jam to get the joint jumping. If you like your Blues white-hot you’ll love this year’s Blues Venue.

Dance Bolivian Carnaval de Oruro, bellydance shimmy techniques, famous German kissing and fighting dances and the fabulous American social dance styles of cajun, zydeco, rock’n’roll, rockabilly and Appalachian clogging, dramatic Spanish flamenco, sensational percussive Irish step dancing, esoteric Tibetan ritual dances, Chinese lion mask dance, exquisite Bharatha-Natyam classical South Indian dance and the fertile, earthy tribal dances of Africa and the Pacific, Australian bush dancing, Indian and Latin dance are joined this year by Gypsy and Bollywood dance nights, an Irish ceilidh dance and great American social dances.

Duck Jazz, Latin, Swing, Cabaret, good food, good wine and a view over the lake. Simply the best things in life at the Duck venue.

Folklorica Ancient myths, rituals, culture and new social realities. Featuring extravagant costumes, dance demonstration, intense and intricate musical performance, songs and stories in many languages, Folklorica takes you around the world in six days. The myths of Japan and Norway, the music of Bulgaria and Brazil, the dance of the Torres Strait and Spain and other traditions from all over the world are on show alongside special guests, the Tibetan Nuns of Kathmandu as Folklorica explores the power of the feminine.

Freek Street All roads lead to the Palace - so if you’re afraid of the unusual, try to get there without going down Freek Street. Expect to be rolled, swindled and bamboozled by shifty characters exiled from the Palace and too dangerous to be given sanctified stage time.

Greenhouse Social and ecological change requires increased knowledge, new ideas and action. This year’s Greenhouse explores birds, butterflies, urban wildlife, ideas for creating positive change, bicycles, sustainable societies, intentional communities, global capitalism and fuelling alternatives and more through debate, presentations, talks and forums.

Guinness Bar/Singing Shed Traditional Australian tune-learning sessions in the morning segue into informal musical sessions of an evening. Join festival guests in full and fine voice at the Singing Shed for songs from the solemn to the silly.

Hilltop Stage Share the first sunrise of the New Year with fellow festivilians on the gold-soaked hilltop overlooking the breathtaking Glasshouse

Murri Not so much a venue as a precinct, the Murri programme is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture at its vibrant best, with galleries, workshops, song, dance, storytelling and talking circles.

Music Exchange Experience hands-on all the music the festival has to offer, and encounter musicians sharing their skills, styles, learning and love for music. Compare notes with tradition bearers and musicians through: workshops, group dynamics, tune learnings, open rehearsals, discussion groups and forums, collaborations and improvisations.

Palace Have you ever dreamed of running away with the circus? This year you only have to sidle down Freek Street into the Palace to rediscover Diversified Amusements, Freaks, Vaudeville, and A Thousand and One Wonders and Human Curiosities. A gift to culture along with other inventions like the hot dog and roller skates, the Palace is a glittering tribute to all things Sideshow.

The Reunion The premier folk venue on site, showcasing the depth and variety of the traditional and contemporary acoustic folk and roots music at the festival. Home also to the Woodford Comedy club.

Troubadour Hosting the legendary Variety Breakfasts alongside a menu of quality wines and quality artists changing daily, the Troubadour ensures that your taste for variety is well catered for. Check the chalkboard for your opportunity to become a festival star.

Visual Arts Organic palettes, the art of the everyday, dyes from lichens, moulds, fruit, copper, brilliant colour and glowing lanterns, chunky textures, embedded fabrics, luscious metallic surfaces, ancient Japanese book binding and pure Australian merino wool dyed in a myriad of colours, find inspiration is the multitude of workshops.

Foods

You will not go hungry here with a smorgasbord of wonderful, interesting and fun foods to choose from. The Festival offers delicious cuisine from around the globe such as African, Asian, Australian Tucker, Health and Organic products, Indian, Italian, Middle Eastern, Hungarian, German, Seafood and Spanish.

Accommodation

Getting back to nature is part and parcel of what makes this festival unique and special, so many visitors, especially season visitors, opt to camp in the Festival camping grounds for the duration. Erected tents and beds are available for hire on site at the festival. You may also book backpackers or hotels in the surrounding area if you prefer a comfy bed and private bathroom, but this will detach you from the festivals vibe.

The Woodford Folk Festival was first held as the Maleny Folk Festival in 1987, the Festival grew so fast that by 1992 it was attracting over 65,000 people. In 1994/1995 the new Woodford site was used for the first time, and the event continues to grow, having become one of the country’s main festivals.

Woodford Website