Australian chart-topping musician John Butler says it’s among “the best in the solar system” and organisers hope 115,000 others agree, following the launch of the 2022 program.
After a three-year enforced hiatus due to the pandemic, 300 Woodford Folk Festival organisers, volunteers and friends gathered on the weekend to celebrate the milestone.
The 2022 festival again will be offering one of Australia’s largest gatherings of artists and performers and providing what deputy festival director Amanda Jackes hopes will be “a deeply immersive experience that supports the very best of who we can be”.
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“The sheer joy of returning the festival after this challenging time, of reconnecting with our community and celebrating with inspiring artists and presenters can be felt through the whole of the organising team. We are so excited about being back,” she said.
Woodfordia, the 200-hectare parklands home of the event, just south of the Sunshine Coast, will welcome 1900 artists in 400 acts across 27 venues, presenting 1834 shows over six days and nights, from December 27 to January 1.
Festival favourites Butler, Boy & Bear, Liz Stringer, Eric Bogle, Greg Sheehan, The Black Sorrows, Lior and Domini, Urthboy, Neil Murray, William Barton, Tenzin Choegyal, Dya Singh and Fred Smith are returning.
“Twenty-five years ago, it was a dream come true to play Woodford. Today nothing’s changed other than I love it more! Woodford is one of the best music festivals in this solar system,” Butler said.
A smattering of international artists also will grace the stages.
New Zealand soulsters Coterie and the roots reggae band The Black Seeds, Grace Petrie with Ben Moss from the UK, Jacob Jolliff Band, Rachel Bailman and Ashley Watkins and Andrew Small from the US, the Monks of Tibet from India, Inn Echo and Alysha Brilla from Canada, and The Jellyman’s Daughter and The Paul McKenna Band from Scotland are making the journey across the oceans.
A compelling Speakers Program features Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, gardening guru Costa Georgiadis, environmental scientist Ian Lowe, Climate Foundation’s Dr Brian Von Herzen from the US, Linda Burney MP, festival Fire Event founding director Neil Cameron, lawyer and academic Noel Pearson and movers and shakers of our environmental, political and cultural landscape.
Among other highlights, much-loved Australian actor Magda Szubanski may channel her Queenie character from the movie Three Summers when she hosts a morning show with Fiona Scott Norman daily during the festival, with interviews and comic commentaries of the news.
Woodford regulars will notice a few changes to the site this year, including a new amphitheatre at the Grande venue.
The first Maleny Folk Festival was held at the Maleny Showgrounds in 1987, but after eight years of steady growth, moved to its new site 5km outside Woodford in 1994.
Festival director Bill Hauritz said organisers were conscious of ensuring the event moved with the times.
“While Woodford Folk Festival is steeped in ceremony and celebrates our nation’s folk heritage and the artists that have shaped the cultural landscape, the event has always aimed to be a place of discovery and a champion of the new and the unusual,” he said.
“Our world changes every year, and our festival needs to change every year if we are to be current.”
See the full program and all the information you need to know on the website.
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