Trouble in the Kitchen will now be performing at the National Folk Festival. Photo: Trouble in the Kitchen.
The 60th National Folk Festival at Exhibition Park this Easter is on track to surpass last year’s attendance figure despite fallout from the Iran war impacting its artist lineup and the developing fuel crisis.
Flight cancellations have kept James Fagan and Nancy Kerr home in the UK, meaning Australia’s first family of folk, The Fagans, will not be performing, nor will James’ sister Kate.
But their parents, Bob and Margaret Fagan, will be making special appearances throughout the festival.
Artistic co-director Holly Downes said it was disappointing, but long-term festival favourite Trouble in the Kitchen had been able to step in with their Irish traditional music with an Aussie twist.
Another Kate, Trouble in the Kitchen member, South Coast-based Kate Burke, will also now be performing, including a special CD launch concert.
Byron Bay’s loss with the cancellation of Bluesfest has been Canberra’s gain with Steve Poltz adding an extra day to his stay and 1920 returning to the national after a few years’ hiatus.
“We already had Steve, but we were sharing him, so it’s so fabulous that he’ll be here on the Saturday as well, as Sunday and Monday,” Holly said.
Festival director Anne Denzer would not comment on the impact of the fuel crisis but said ticket sales had been strong and tracking better than last year.
She was not expecting any more artists to drop out or anyone to cancel their travel plans.
Reserve camping was booked out, and some general sites were available, but it was getting close to full.
“Our ticket prices go up on Thursday morning, so we’re expecting a bit of an influx over the next couple of days as well,” Anne said.
They’ll be back. There will be plenty of dance and participatory opportunities at the festival. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The festival bump-in began last week, the venues are up, and stallholders began arriving from Monday.
“We’ve got half of the bunting and festoon up already,” Anne said.
“The rest is going up this week, and then it’s just little bits of pieces of decorations and things like that to go.”
Holly said the festival could not do anything about the current state of the world, but its 60th-anniversary special events, like Songs of Peace and Songs of Protest, could make a statement.
“Songs of Peace is being curated by [Canberra’s] Fred Smith, one of our local legends, and Songs of Protest is going to be an amazing retrospective, and also obviously a contemporary look at the issues folk has always had something to say,” she said.
“We’re also celebrating those voices that might not have always felt safe to speak out, but have always been a huge part of the National Folk Festival’s history, with the special event, 60 Years of Queer.”
Holly said there were several ways for festival goers to find out what was happening over the weekend.
“There’s an online interactive program, there’s the hard copy souvenir program, there’s the downloadable PDF of the grid, and the app,” she said.
“You’ll also see on our website, in the drop-down menu, that each area of the festival has a little highlight section, and so those 60-year events, for example, you’ll see them there listed under the special events if you need to refer to things.”
The festival kicks off on Thursday night with the Opening Concert and runs until Monday night, with plenty of participatory events and workshops, dances and kids’ stuff.
The forecast is warm in the mid-20s on Thursday and Friday, cooler with a possible shower on Saturday, but then fine for the rest of the weekend.
To learn more, or to download the app, visit the National Folk Festival.
Original Article published by Ian Bushnell on Region Canberra.
