The National Folk Festival (NFF) has done what many larger music festivals shy away from – politics and protests – and on Saturday 4 April, a pro-Palestine march took place within the festival.
While Queensland has legally banned the phrase “from the river to the sea” and Woodford Folk Festival has recently shied away from politics, the NFF hosted a pro-Palestine rally and a concert dedicated to “songs of protest”.
Artistic director Holly Downes said that the NFF valued expression and respect.
“One of the most important things is that we shouldn’t be censoring our artists,” Ms Downes said. “We’re allowed to have opinions and everyone needs a platform to be able to express them.”
The new Queensland legislation banning the phrase “from the river to the sea” was passed last month in response to rising antisemitism, and includes maximum penalties of two years in prison.
Ms Downes said that music and art served as protest tools and as a way to sustain communities.
“There’s a long history of folk songwriters, story-tellers, musicians raising issues that are relevant and current in today’s climate,” she said.
“We’re focusing on peace and protestors because there’s a lineage of challenges that we as a society have faced and our people are articulating their feelings around these topics and that should continue. We can’t exist as a species if we’re not allowed to say what we think.”
The pro-Palestinian rally at the NFF was organised by a group called “Folk The System”, which run sessions that connect folk music with movements for change and resistance.
The NFF’s Songs of Protest concert featured headline artists and looked back at the union and social justice anthems that have shaped the Festival’s history, plus new songs addressing today’s pressing issues and calls for change.
The NFF has also revived the Concert for Peace, which first occurred at the Festival at the beginning of the Iraq War.
On the NFF website, its ethos states: “Our Festival is a community bringing together the rich diversity of backgrounds, experiences and viewpoints of every participant. Folk music, in particular, has historically formed part of political discourse with deep and powerful political messages being delivered through song, verse and dance. The National Folk Festival continues and embraces this history.”
