More than 180 acts are set to take the stage at the National Folk Festival (NFF) to be held at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC) over the Easter long weekend, 18-22 April.
Launching the 2019 program, festival director Pam Merrigan says this yearโs lineup is โdiverseโ, with acts from 14 countries as well as from all around Australia.
โAgain, weโve got a mix of emerging artists and established artists; exciting artists from overseas that nobody might have heard about but who are really well known in their own countries, and weโre exposing them to Australian audiences.โ
Ms Merrigan says attendees to the festival can see a wide range of styles and genres, with folk music encompassing a large variety of artists, instruments and techniques.
โFolk is really only relevant if itโs contemporary,โ she says, referencing musicians that use what are traditionally thought of as folk elements, and merging them with their own contemporary styles.
โI donโt see folk as a genre, I see it as like a palette,โ Ms Merrigan says. โImagine a painterโs palette and youโve got a little bit of green here โฆ a little bit of something else there โฆ youโve got all these different styles and genres.
โItโs a bit like organic food; organic food is really close to its source and itโs not overly produced โฆ I see folk music as a bit like that.โ
Ms Merrigan says planning for this yearโs event has been well and truly underway for months, with a small staff that work year-round, as well as around 1,200 volunteers.
โThe volunteers are probably the most important people who engage with our festival, because without them we couldnโt do what we do. They are, if you like, the heart of our festival.
โWe start with an empty landscape โฆ and we dress that up and create a village.โ
The lineup will feature appearances from Redgumโs John Schumann and Goanna Bandโs Shane Howard with the Red Rockinโ Dirt Band, Canberra local Kim Yang, Gold Coast harpist Elska and contemporary folk-pop trio Little Quirks.
The National Folk Festival will be held over the Easter long weekend, Thursday 18 to Monday 22 April at EPIC. For the full lineup and tickets, visit folkfestival.org.au
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