News
17 August, 2024
A tree-mendous festival
Woodfordia has announced Woodford Folk Festival ticket sales are going strong, with this year’s line-up expected to be released on October 19. This comes just two weeks after Woodfordia, the incorporation that organises and hosts the festival, celebrated its 30th anniversary with a weekend-long event from July 26 to 28.
As the milestone coincided with National Tree Day, Woodfordia partnered with Planet Ark’s Seedbank Program to plant 2,000 trees on the property, with other festivities including dancing, live music, and a comedy show.
Founder of Woodfordia and the Folk Festival, Bill Hauritz, said the tree planting on the property is as iconic as the festival itself, as it started as soon as the then-dairy farm was purchased in 1994.
“The land here at Woodfordia was initially a dairy farm, largely devoid of trees. We researched what was here prior to European settlement, discovering it was mostly rainforest,” he said.
“The beautiful thing about planting trees is that it gives volunteers ownership of the site. They love the trees, coming back year aft er year to watch them grow.”
Mr Hauritz estimates as many as 5,000 to 7,000 volunteers have helped plant over 110,000 trees in 30 years, with nearly 500 attending the birthday celebration this year.
Long-time festival-goers (Woodfordians) also got to take a trip down memory lane, hearing stories of how the festival began in July 1994, when the organisers of the then-called Maleny Folk Festival purchased the 500-acre land, with the idea of transforming it into a cultural parkland to host what would come to be known as the Woodford Folk Festival.
Despite the cost-of-living crisis and an increasing number of iconic festivals having to cancel, Woodford Folk Festival Director Amanda Jackes said they were “pleased with ticket sales”.
However she added that “nothing is taken for granted” in the current economic environment.
Ms Jackes also noted an annual increase in attendees from the immediate surrounding areas over the past few years.
“It’s a hidden gem in our area, and locals are embracing it more every year,” she said.
Ticket sales are expected to peak again after the line-up is released in October, as day-visitors will know which day they would prefer to attend based on who is playing.
Ms Jackes said the pre-sales are still very popular, especially for New Year’s Eve and amongst seasoned festival-goers.
This year’s Woodford Folk Festival will take place from December 27 to January 1.
Tickets and more info at woodfordia.org
