A Little Birdy is winging their way to the magical land of Woodford
Every year the Woodford Folk Festival builds an enchanted community to see in the new year with music, art and a magic that’s hard to explain – but just has to be experienced.
Plumes of dust and smiling faces stirred up by the pounding dancing feet of the Jinibara Welcome Ceremony have become an integral and symbolic tradition at the annual Woodford Folk Festival.
The opening performance by the festival site’s traditional custodians, the Jinibara people, marks the continuation of celebrations at Woodford going back tens of thousands of years – far beyond the almost four decades of this festival.
The magical land of Woodfordia, as it is now known, was purchased 30 years ago after the festival outgrew its first site at Maleny. But the dreams of the organisers have grown much larger than the security of owning the festival’s home. It’s now about ensuring the annual gathering continues for future generations.
While other music festivals have collapsed under the weight of cost-of-living pressures and spiralling insurance premiums, the Woodford Folk Festival continues to grow in reputation and size.
So much so that one of this year’s headline Australian acts, Katy Steele – the crucial linchpin of four-piece indie band Little Birdy – is coming especially from Perth for an exclusive performance at the 37th Woodford, running as always from December 27 to January 1.
Steele says it was fellow musos who told her about the joys of performing at Woodford that enticed her to embark on the mammoth cross-country trek for a one-off show.
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“I’ve heard through many, many different artists that Woodford is one of the best festivals to play,” Steele says. “I’ve heard it’s got an amazing setup and a really loyal audience. I’m coming over for the one show. Financially it’s not a good idea, but it’s ok – we’re really, really excited.
“I’m probably mostly known for being in Little Birdy, but I’ve done two solo records which I’m really proud of too. I’ll be really happy to be showcasing some of my solo material with my band.”
That the Woodford Folk Festival is growing from strength to strength is no surprise to the managing director of Woodfordia Inc, Amanda Jackes, who not only oversees the festival but also the innovative spin-offs known as The Planting and the national regional touring program called Festival of Small Halls.
“We’ve been able to invite quite a number of international artists this year – it’s our largest presentation definitely since Covid,” Jackes says. “We had the opportunity to attend music conferences and festivals in Reunion Island and Canada and Scotland. So, it’s quite a beautiful program of new artists that our audience haven’t seen before. I’m particularly looking forward to The Joy, from South Africa, who are a young acapella group who sing in the Zulu tradition. They’re going to be euphoric for our audiences.”
Other Australian acts include Jaguar Jonze, legendary live performers King Stingray and the return of Yothu Yindi.
Jackes says the growth of the annual celebration is in part due to its multigenerational nature, mixing old and new audiences.
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“This appeals to an 18-year-old kid on their rite of passage along with a woman in her midlife choosing a health and wellbeing journey,” she says. “That’s the beauty of the festival. It’s not a spectator sport. People get into it.
“Whether it’s doing a workshop of something they’ve always wanted to learn, like silversmithing or basket weaving … or doing a songwriting workshop or participating in yoga or the different modalities of meditation or a dance workshop.
“People are getting involved, they’re joining the choir, they’re becoming part of the people’s orchestra. That’s why that sense of community can come so quickly when we go from a Greenfield site to a week later having 20,000 people.”
For Freya Hegarty, an artist and sculptor and the festival’s head of art and decor, it’s more than organisation that keeps the Woodford Folk Festival’s fires burning.
“The community of Woodford is a huge, big backbone of the festival,” Hegarty says. “Woodford is a space that offers so much. It’s not just music, it’s experiences, it’s art, it’s culture, in a really broad sense. So the cultural significance of Woodford keeps the community engaged and, hopefully, we’ll be able to keep it going forever.”
She says it’s the atmosphere created every year by artists like herself that helps Woodfordia emerge anew from the forest that Woodfordians planted – then decorate the eclectic village with sculptures and artworks that make it so unique.
“It becomes a little village of all sorts of things with many different spaces,” Hegarty says. “Each of them has their own style and identity, which is cool, because as you walk along you are transformed by these different areas and precincts. There’s so many layers to Woodford and it’s a feast for the senses.”
I suggest to Hegarty that there must be a part of her that’s sad to pack it all away at the end of each festival. She replies that it’s all part of the Woodfordia magic: “We know we get to play with it all again next year.”
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