THE international reach of the Port Fairy Folk Festival will go to another level next month when it makes an incursion on Canada.
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As part of an exchange program, an act that played at Port Fairy will play at the Calgary Folk Festival in July.
The act chosen to carry the Port Fairy banner is The Mission Songs Project, which played at the Folkie in 2017.
The Mission Songs Project is made up of Emma Donovan, Jessica Hitchcock, Jessie Lloyd and Deline Briscoe.
Port Fairy Folk Festival director Caroline Moore said the Calgary exchange would open up doors for both festivals and their performers.
“This is a wonderful partnership and one we are very excited about,” Ms Moore said.
“It will create a real buzz for both festivals and an extraordinary opportunity for the performers. The Mission Songs Project has never played in Canada before so it has opened up a new frontier for them.”
Jessie Lloyd from The Mission Songs Project said the act was thrilled to be the inaugural recipients of the exchange program.
“We are honoured to be representing Port Fairy in this ambassadorial capacity, and we thank Port Fairy Folk Festival for establishing this program,” Lloyd said.
“We will spread the word far and wide about the wonderful festival that is Port Fairy.”
A Canadian act will be part of the Port Fairy Folk Festival in 2019. The act chosen will be announced ahead of the first lot of tickets for the festival going on sale in the first week of September.
Performer applications for the 2019 festival closed on Wednesday night. Applications were received from as far afield as Greece, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and Mauritius.
“There have been hundreds and hundreds of applications and the quality has been amazing,” Ms Moore said.
“We have cast our net far and wide and created a large international network. Australian and Celtic folk music remains at the heart of the festival but the evolution of the festival has meant it now reaches so much further.”
She said the festival committee had been working hard to further develop the event’s link with the Port Fairy community.