If you’re after something other than chocolate eggs and fluffy bunny tails this Easter, check out the National Folk Festival when it returns to Exhibition Park in Canberra over the long weekend, 6-10 April.

Making Canberra its permanent home in the early 1990s, the Easter weekend festival is known for its great music, fantastic stalls and interactive workshops. This year, international acts return, including UK-based Billy Bragg, Greece’s Apodimi Compania, Tony McManus from Canada, and Chris While & Julie Matthews from the UK.

Homegrown acts include headliners The Waifs, Canberra’s own Fred Smith, Luke O’Shea and Mick Thomas. The Festival’s interim managing director, Chris Grange, says while other festivals may be packed with international acts, their approach to talent scouting is different to most.

“It’s a different route for us because we don’t look for the big names, we look for the up-and-coming names. We look for the people who are really excellent at their craft, and who are going to surprise our audiences,” says Mr Grange.  

For this year’s event, organisers chose from 800 acts, double the previous year’s numbers. In total, 145 acts and close to 1,000 people will share their music, dance and street performance with the crowds this Easter.  

One of those is the Canberra Shanty Club, which was born from connections made at the National Folk Festival five years ago. Dr Iain Johnston, his wife, Norrae, and Ewan Laurie sat together singing songs with the stalwart older crew at the festival. It was such a great time that they thought it would be something worth doing regularly in Canberra.

“Soon after the festival, we sat around at each other’s places and had dinner and practised a few songs, then we said ‘okay, now we’ve got it together let’s do it a pub’,” Dr Johnston says.

From Old Canberra Inn to their permanent spot at Smith’s Alternative two nights a month, the club has grown. Their simple songs are great for people with no experience and revolve around fun. The call-back chorus-style tunes feature classics like Haul Away Joe, Paddy Lay Back, South Australia, and many sea shanties. 

“Sea shanties, by definition, are working songs, so there were songs that sailors would sing with a caller, the shanty man, to keep time while undertaking an activity. They’re just songs to get everyone working together in time, that’s why they always have a big steady beat,” Dr Johnston explains.

Turning it up a notch this year, the Canberra Shanty Club is joined by members from Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania divisions coming to take part. The club will be running workshops each day, spread around the festival. Dr Johnston says you’ll be able to find them easily with around 30 people screaming their lungs out. 

Intimate musical experiences spread across the grounds and the smaller venues allow for energetic performances where crowds feel at one with the artist. Mr Grange believes it is more than the tunes that bring people back to the festival each year.

“I’ve got people in the office, whose parents took them to the Folk Festival when they were children, and they are still coming or still volunteering or even working for the Folk Festival,” he smiles.

The dances incorporate cultures from around the world with guests invited to experience something new, while the circus and roving performers add a dash of colour to the festivities. Food vendors and merchandise stalls are set to cater for all tastes and requirements.

Mr Grange recommends checking out the workshop program with something for every level of experience and confidence, encouraging attendees to get hands-on with their time there. He says it doesn’t matter if you’re musical or not, just pick a title that speaks to you and you are sure to have a great time.

While you might not catch a huge pop star like Sir Elton John performing at the festival, you can hear his songs in the Infinite Elton Song Contest. Artists from acts playing at the festival battle it out to be the best recreator of one of the Rocket Man’s hit tunes.

A community focus means the event caters for all members of the family regardless of age, and a dedicated kids’ festival provides the perfect spot for parents to drop their kids off for a couple of hours.

One of the most famous attractions of the festival is the Sessions Bar, which runs all day and all night, Mr Grange says.

“We encourage groups of people to get together and play music; these are not performers – they are attendees, patrons … There are some people who go to our festival who will spend nearly all their time in the Sessions Bar and not actually go and see anything,” he smiles.

The National Folk Festival takes over Exhibition Parkin Canberra, 6-10 April. For tickets and the program, visit folkfestival.org.au

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