The last surviving free “traditional” folk festival in Australia lies just 90 minutes from Canberra, with the Numeralla Folk Festival quietly puttering along since 1974.

There’s no entry fee, no camping fee, and no queues, just a Diggers Memorial Hall in an old gold mining village of 254 people – plus volunteers and musicians doing it for the love. 

Incredibly, 300-400 people flock to Numeralla annually for the January long weekend – some from as far as Victoria and Sydney – and set up camp beside Numeralla River.

It’s a step back in time where campers are fed three home-cooked meals a day and serenaded with folk tunes, yarns, poetry and bush dancing. 

No money changes hands (except for the tucker), and occasionally, travelling musos get reimbursed petrol money but often they’re content to just be at one of the “must-do” festivals in Australia.

Of course there’s a well-stocked bar, which clears about $3,000 over the two days. This is combined with raffle and food profits to pay for insurance and the upkeep of the town’s treasured Diggers Memorial Hall.

This tiny hall, built in 1918, is the town’s lifeblood, where various birthday parties and celebrations are held and, remarkably, it’s survived intact (despite a few close calls with bushfires) – except for a small, charred section of floor where a candle fell.

You can’t miss it, it’s in MacLean Street, the main (and only) street. Actually, there’s also Umeralla Street (not a typo, apparently the “N” wasn’t added to the town’s name until 1972).

Licensee Glenn Griffin, who runs the temporary bar, said the festival was crucial for the survival of the Diggers Memorial Hall, which was entrusted to the community by the Snowy Monaro Regional Council.

“It does have a lot of history,” Glenn said. “We’ve got a World War I sharpshooter pilot who came from this area. The Diggers Memorial Hall has really got a good community backing. It’s one that the community really wants to see survive.”

The hall doubles as the festival’s main stage and its kitchen is where country hospitality thrives, with local residents bringing in home-cooked meals to donate for sale.

“Most of the performers that come here do it for the love of what they’re doing and not so much the money,” Glenn said. “Last year was the first year in a long time where we offered fuel money to a lot of the performers and some of them were just overwhelmed, they don’t expect that sort of thing. Some of them even refused. They donated the money back, which is quite nice.”

Canberra’s very own Monaro Folk Society donates the audio equipment and a sound engineer to operate it. This special little festival is highly sought-after by touring folk musicians.

“A band approached us from Wollongong, called Blue Mallee, and they were told when they started playing folk music that there are three festivals they had to perform at in their career – and ours was one of them, which is super impressive,” Glenn said.

So what’s so special about the Numeralla Folk Festival?

“To quote The Castle, I reckon it’s the vibe of the whole thing,” Glenn said. “The atmosphere is what makes it, there’ll be a lot of people there two weeks prior and for up to a month afterwards.”

The square dance on Saturday night is legendary, with a demographic of young folks in their 20s to older folkies in their 80s.

“They’re crazy, they went till two in the morning last year,” Glenn said. “I’m usually stuck down at the bar so I don’t get to go, which is probably good for everyone’s safety.”

Long may Numeralla dance because if the festival ever folded, Glenn said it would mean the end of the Diggers Memorial Hall. Profits are also shared with the local Rural Fire Service, Landcare and Numeralla’s two historic churches.

“No one’s getting paid, everyone is there for exactly the same reason,” Glenn said. “A lot of folks call it their home festival because it always feels like they’re coming home.”

Numeralla Folk Festival is on Facebook and at numeralla.org.au/FolkFestival