The annual festival takes place at Southcombe Park on the cricket club's Avery's Paddock and J.J. Colledge Oval, and according to Mr Sheehan, the event does significant damage to the turf each year and it isn't rectified.

"The folk festival continually walk away from what I and others consider their responsibility to pay for the repair of the ovals by contractors," he said.

Mr Sheehan said volunteers were invariably left carrying the can, working "countless hours to level dirt in holes, lay turf on bare patches, spread seed, and water" in a bid to restore the surface.

"As volunteers we seem to be getting no support or respect and it really does get to you."

Mr Sheehan said wet conditions during deconstruction of the March festival had made the damage so bad that it would be impossible to play cricket on Avery's Paddock this year.

"If you don't believe that, you need to walk on the ovals and see how bad the damage is," he said.

"And the solution? Shift the folk festival. Or at the very least get them to put up a $100,000 bond each year... they then may show a little respect for the ovals, for at the moment there is none."

Mr Sheehan said the bond scenario would be a last resort and he would much prefer the festival gone.

He said the festival had been good for the Port Fairy community over the years and had given the cricket club four interest-free loans, which the club had paid back in full, but he said the club and community also paid a heavy price.

"My understanding is that Moyne Shire paid the rental fee for the festival for the last three festivals to Southcombe Park committee of management," Mr Sheehan said.

"So what does that make the festival? They're not a user group, supposedly not a hirer, they're definitely not a repairer of damage. So what are they? An itinerant trader that rapes and pillages the ovals. Enough is enough."

The Standard contacted Port Fairy Folk Festival president John Young for comment, but he declined.

Moyne Shire Council has a 10-year agreement with the festival to use the current site, and the folkie pays a $4000 bond to cover potential damage to the ovals. Mr Sheehan said this didn't come close to getting the grounds back up to scratch and volunteers spent up to 100 hours every year getting the fields to a playable standard.

The council's infrastructure and environment director Edith Farrell said it had been working with festival management to rectify the damage from this year's festival and the annual bond would be significantly increased.

"A report is being prepared for councillors which will propose a substantial increase to that amount to incentivise greater care and to help the folk festival committee leverage their contractors to improve practices," Ms Farrell said.

She said the $4000 bond for this year had been surrendered and council had asked the festival committee to pay "a further contribution to assist with the repairs based on total cost of those works".