Overview
Festival season is well and truly upon us, with the Woodford Folk Festival the latest event to announce its program. If you fancy seeing out 2018 and welcoming in 2019 while catching a heap of bands, wandering between arts performances and getting a little muddy across a grassy patch of southeast Queensland, the fest has you covered for its whopping 33rd year.
Taking place at Woodfordia about 90 minutes north of Brisbane, this year's fest will be held for six days between December 27, 2018 and January 1, 2019 — with Electric Fields, Kimbra, Alex the Astronaut, The Cat Empire, Screamfeeder, Remi and Jen Cloher among its high-profile talent. In total, more than 200 acts will grace a lineup that features everything from music, art, circus and cabaret to yoga, dance and comedy, all in venues that range from a 25,000-seat amphitheatre to chilled-out hangout spots.
Other highlights include spoken word, comedy and performances by everyone from Dr Karl to Vernon Ah Kee to Tripod's Steven Gates with Paul McDermott; arts, dance and meditation workshops; and a heap of circus and cabaret shows — plus, if you're bringing littlies, the event's Children's Festival within the broader fest is also returning. Or, you can enjoy a three-course bush food feast, catch The Spirit of Churaki about the Aboriginal man heralded as the Gold Coast's first surf lifesaver and see podcast Grownups Read Things They Wrote as Kids live.
While the annual Queensland festival has weathered an uncertain future in recent years, it remains a staple of the state's end-of-year calendar — and visit will also boast 195 stalls around the grounds, turning the site into a mini-village for its duration. That includes everything from bars, cafes and restaurants, to an on-site doctor's surgery and two general stores. As always, camping is available at one of the fest's nine campgrounds, or you can nab a ticket just for the day. Either way, expect to have company, as around 130,000 people attend each year.
The 2018–19 Woodford Folk Festival runs from December 27, 2018 and January 1, 2019 at Woodfordia on the Sunshine Coast. To view the program and buy tickets, head to woodfordfolkfestival.com
Images: Woodford Folk Festival via Flickr.