National Folk Festival, The (1967 - )

Bell, Brendan: Australian Pioneer Dancers Roger Gifford and Sandra Martens, National Folk Festival, 1997

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The National Folk Festival is a major, annual event in Australia's cultural life. It attracts performers and attendees from around Australia and overseas and features performances, instruction and participation in music, dance, circus skills, spoken word and poetry. The Festival states as its mission that it will 'provide an annual celebration of Australian folk life emphasising the quality of our creativity and the diverse cultural heritage of our Australian communities through showcasing a fun-filled community event, which features participation as an imperative'.

With chairperson Shirley Andrews at the helm the first Festival was held in Melbourne in 1967 and in its first twenty five years of existence the event was held in different locations, rotating from state to state and being organised by folk federations in the respective states. As it became more and more popular it became necessary to fix it in one location and in the early 1990s the Australian Folk Trust took over its organisation and made provision for it to take place in Canberra each Easter.

For more about the National Folk Festival see Gwenda Beed Davey, The National: The National Folk Festival and the National Library', National Library of Australia News, April 2003.

See also: Andrews, Shirley

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Research Materials

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Interview with Shirley Andrews, 1989 (Oral history)

Interviewer: Geri Lobl

Interviewee: Andrews, Shirley

Audiotape

120 mins

Shirley Andrews speaks about her involvement with the folk movement and folk dancing in Australia. She talks in particular about her introduction to dancing, her association with the Unity Dance Group, the musical Reedy River, various folk associations in Victoria with which she was involved and her trips collecting and researching dances and dance materials. She discusses the definition of social dancing, typically Australian dances, regional variations and music available for folk dancing. Andrews also talks about the establishment of the National Folk Festival.

Andrews, Shirley

Location:

National Library of Australia

TRC 2486
nla.cat-vn1396752

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