Call of the wild … Woodford Folk Festival beckons
The pilgrimage to Woodford Folk Festival will soon begin with festival-goers from all over the world heading to a little patch of Queensland known as Woodfordia.
Mama Kin sums up perfectly the spirit that keeps performers and Woodfordians coming back to the Woodford Folk Festival year upon year.
“Man, when Woodford calls, I answer,” says the celebrated Melbourne-born but Freemantle-based singer-songwriter and percussionist, also known as Danielle Caruana. “That’s the rule for me with Woodford.”
It’s a long cross-country journey from her Perth base to the fabled land of Woodfordia, north of Brisbane, where a team of about 1000 tireless volunteers are once again constructing the site between now and Christmas Eve.
The reborn village with 20 venues will thrum with more than 1600 performances by 450 acts at the folk festival, which runs from December 27 to January 1. The festival is expected to attract 25,000 daily patrons who will journey to Woodfordia from around the country and around the globe – making it the largest gathering of artists and musicians in Australia.
And once the festival’s final songs are sung, and chantings ebb, those same volunteers will return to pull the temporary village down … and in 12 months’ time the annual cycle will start again.
Danielle Caruana considers it a privilege to be part of such a gathering of souls to whom she will showcase her latest Aria-nominated album from her duo, Mama Kin Spender. New album Promises debuted at No.2 on the charts and she cannot wait for Woodford folkies to become more acquainted with its raw emotional ride, where she lyrically and emotionally lays bare the demise and saving of her relationship with fellow indie musician John Butler.
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Her firebrand soaring vocals and mesmerising drumming alongside multi-instrumentalist Dingo Spender connect with audiences in a visceral way that Woodford Folk Festival fosters.
‘Woodford has a reputation for programming a festival that their punters know and trust’
“You’ve got this audience fan connection at Woodford,” Caruana says. “This is one of the only places that we get to develop audience experiences away from pubs and clubs, away from what mainstream media are telling us, away from streaming algorithms, away from Instagram, away from social media.
“It is a festival that is truly invested in artist and audience connection development. Woodford has a reputation for programming a festival that their punters know and trust. It is also that folk style of making art for people to connect with people. It is a vehicle for connection.
“Not one of our sales that attributed to our (new album’s) position in the charts came from streaming. It was all purely people who chose to buy. And that’s why Woodford has to be protected against everything because it is so human. What they do is so human. It’s all ages, it’s accessible, it’s challenging.”
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Caruana touches on these challenging aspects of Woodford and how sometimes getting from your tent to the festival venue is the hardest part of your day, but how that collective bond actually heightens the experience.
“It’s not an easy festival to go to,” she admits. “And in that we become bonded in our experience and our commitment to be there. That shows grit and determination and commitment to the craft.”
Woodford Folk Festival managing director Amanda Jackes says Caruana highlights the multi-dimensional facets that are key to Woodford Folk Festival’s ongoing success.
“What doesn’t change is the community and the goodwill that is here,” Jackes says. “That sense of feeling that you get to return home to a place that many people have as their annual pilgrimage. That process of renewal, of being at a six-day festival where you live in a community that is built on creativity and compassion – that hasn’t changed.
“And that’s something that we all warmly look forward to each year and deeply resonate with.”
While Jackes is looking forward to acts such as Msaki from South Africa and First Nations artists Barkaa, Budjerah and the Andrew Gurruwiwi Band, it’s the return of the treasured Chai Tent open to revellers 24 hours a day, with its chalk board of rotating artists, that is cause of much excitement.
“And it’s all the expressions of creativity,” she says. “So whether that’s dance, meditation, talks, comedy or cabaret circus, there’s eight children’s festival venues alone. This year we’re very excited about the Champions of Woodfordia. This is a re-imagining of the game that we did about 10 years ago, and it’s led by a team of seven creatives, aged from 16 to 23 years of age. It’s immersed throughout the festival. The game is almost like an alternative reality taking place.
“There’s also about 20 visual arts workshop venues and visual arts workshops running every day of the festival.”