Woodford Folk Festival

The Woodford Folk Festival is held annually over six days and six  nights, from Dec 27th through to January 1st. More than 2,000 local, national and international, artists, musicians and presenters put on over 438 acts to an audience of an estimated 132,000 people. The  festival begins each year with the iconic Opening Ceremony and closes  with the spectacular showcase, the Fire Event on New Year’s Day. This  year will be the 34th Woodford Folk Festival and the 25th held at  Woodfordia. It is the largest gathering of artists and musicians in  Australia.

The Woodford festival experience is deep, rich and  colourful. It is based on a vision of inclusive and creative community,  culture and tradition passed through generations, expressed through  story and ceremony. The site, a former barren dairy farm, has been  lovingly regenerated with over 120,000 subtropical rain forest trees,  orchids, ferns and sedges, planted to create a habitat for butterflies  and wildlife.

Woodfordia is transformed into a village that hosts  over 25,000 daily patrons, performers, stallholders, volunteers and  organisers. As many as 2,680 volunteers across 162 departments are at  the heart of the organisation and contribute to the setup and day-to-day  running of the festival. During the event, the festival is actually the  67th largest town in Australia.

Each year construction begins in  early December and continues up until Christmas Day. Over 450  contractors and volunteers build the village. Many come from around the  world to be part of the festival build and then stay for a week after to  pull the event down.