The phenomenon known as the Woodford Folk Festival is once again fast approaching, with all three sessions of ‘Early-Bird’ tickets already sold out. This is despite this year’s program not even being released until October! In fact every year, every ticket is sold to Australia’s answer to the famous Burning Man, and for good reason. No festival in Australia can come close to the experience offered by the Woodford Folk Festival.

From the 27th of December to the 1st of January next year, you too could be starting your New Year so very differently. Just look at this list of events within the festival’s programme; concerts, dances, street theatre, writers’ panels, film festival, comedy sessions, acoustic jams, social dialogue and debate, folk medicine, an entire children’s festival, an environmental programme featuring talks, debates and films, art and craft workshops, circus performances and workshops, late night cabarets, parades and special events including a spectacular fire event. Just wow!

“Within the festival village you will find 35 performance venues, of which 18 are all weather. The festival streets are lined with restaurants, cafes, stalls, bars, street theatre and parades. Tree-filled camp grounds, butterfly walks, ponds and wildlife complete the picturesque site”. It truly is a massive bill.

The festival ground itself, known as ‘Woodfordia’, is a purpose built festival grounds maintained by the non-for-profit organisation called the Queensland Folk Federation, who run the festival, along with its sister festival, the Woodford Tree Planting festival. It is a beautiful place, with strong roots in the local Aboriginal culture, which the festival organisers respect with the help of two Jinbara nation representatives acting as custodians of the land.

The festival has a very ‘hippy-dippy’ persona for most people, but I assure you the usual standard of musical talent and the line-up of talks as well as the art on display far extends past what you might expect of some hippy-commune. Musical artists will be sharing their unique take on blues, hip-hop, rock, blues, and much more throughout the weekend. Take the chance to take part in any number of fantastic arts and crafts workshops, experience dance like you’ve never seen before, or enjoy laughing til you cry with a line-up of incredible comedic acts. Last year’s line up was an absolute highlight, including such names as Judith Lucy, Dave Callan, and so many more.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for their mailing-list, keep up to date as the official program is released in October, or grab one of the last ‘Pre-Season’ tickets for a 15% discount, then visit the official festival website and prepare yourself for a whole new experience.