Things we learnt at the Port Fairy Folk Festival – Day One

You used to pick up your tickets from a little tent that was prone to blow away in the wind, but the powers that be made the smart move this year to set up the ticket exchange in the basketball stadium. It’s one less stage, but worth it. It ran like clockwork under the hectic pressure of Day One.

Accidents still happen

With five minutes to go in Don Walker’s Friday night set, the power went out in the Lighthouse stage. Some unlucky soul driving past the tent managed to unplug the three-phase power in a serious way. But the Folkie is such a well oiled machine that a generator was up and ready to go in time for the next act to start.

Even soundchecks sound cool

It’s a weird but fun privilege of being in the media that you get to see behind the curtain from time to time. At the Folkie that means wandering around the arena before the gates open, when there’s no one around, and listening to the band’s soundcheck. And then there’s the opportunity to watch the sound tech’s do their thing.

Friday is the real deal

It used to be that Friday was a bit of a slowburn, but not any more. A packed line-up meant it was an unmissable night. But even more than that is that people are turning up earlier and earlier. Some locals said that town’s been nearly full since Monday.

Artists love golf carts

Forget limousines – rock stars love getting driven around in golf carts. The Port Fairy Lions Club have a fleet of golf carts on hand to transport the artists and their instruments around the arena. And the performers love it. Our Lions Club insiders tell us that almost every artist comments on what a great (and unique) idea it is for a festival.

There’s still the odd hippy floating around

The Folkie has changed over the years – some would say it has matured like a fine wine. Go back 10 or 20 years and there was still a strong hippy vibe to the festival, but that has long gone, replaced by a family friendly vibe and an inclination to drink wine and Guinness rather than VB cans. It wasn’t called the “smoke dope and poke” festival for nothing by some locals. Times have changed, but we can confirm that there are still hippies at the Folkie – one of the first people sitting outside the arena gate on Friday was a shirtless white man with dreadlocks and a didgeridoo. 

Musical highlights abound

Day one was a cracker, packed with highlights. Don Walker, Melody Pool, Folk Uke (with special guests Dog Trumpet), Yirrmal (with special guests Neil Murray and Shane Howard), Les Poules a Colin, The Pinks, The Southern Ocean Sea Band, and The Crooked Fiddle Band were all impressive.

Stage One was deadly on Friday night

It wasn’t promoted – it was just done. Organisers gave Stage One a distinctly indigenous flavour on Friday night, but didn’t announce it as anything special – it just happened and it was incredible. From the Welcome To Country through to Kutcha Edwards, Stage One was “deadly”. There’s no other word for it.