National Folk Festival

Australia's Home and Heart of Folk for Over 50 Years! EASTER 9-13 April 2020 | Canberra

The National Folk Festival started life in Melbourne in 1967 as the Port Phillip District Folk Festival. Today this iconic event is one of Australia’s longest running and most patron friendly festivals offering a wide range of opportunities for attendees to engage in the folk arts. Up until 1992 it crisscrossed the country, being held in a different city each year. As the Festival flourished and grew this model proved unmanageable. In 1993 the National Folk Festival Ltd was formed as a not-for-profit company for the purpose of presenting the event. It established a permanent home at Exhibition Park, Canberra. This big showground like complex with its permanent, well heated, all weather buildings, has ample space for the erection of large temporary venues and good infrastructure and facilities for camping patrons. It provides the perfect setting to create the Festival’s reimagined temporary village. Held annually over 5 days & nights during Easter, today’s Festival is overseen by a volunteer Board of 11 Directors with a permanent staff of 6 full-time and 3 part-time employees. Leading up to, and during the event this core team is augmented by over 500 contractors and some 1200 volunteers drawn from all parts of Australia.
Populated with themed bars, food and market stalls, circus performers and roving musicians the Festival’s vibrant streetscape comes alive in a riot of colour, sound and enticing aromas. Its multi-disciplinary program is broad and innovative. Boasting an A-list of performers across music, dance, spoken word, film, circus and traditional crafts the Festival raises the city’s profile as a place of celebration.