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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