Port Fairy Folk Festival, March 6–9, 2026

By Brian Wise

Next year the Port Fairy Folk Festival – or the Folkie, as it is affectionately nicknamed – celebrates its 50th anniversary. It remains one of the few long-running music festivals that never seem to have been beset by the problems plaguing many other such events. Embraced by the local community – and injecting a huge economic boost to the town – the festival has ridden out possible problems by retaining the core of its audience while at the same time looking to the future. You can see that in a line-up that envisions the ‘folk’ tag in its broader context. This is why Iron & Wine was in the line-up alongside the English duo While & Matthews and Emma Donovan.

It’s a four-hour drive to Port Fairy and the expansive festival site at Southcombe Park, right in town. The festival has stuck to using the circus-type big-top tents as opposed to the old rectangular dormer tents and it is a vast improvement. It seems a bit easier to find a seat than in the old days, although maybe numbers were down this year. The biggest tent by far is The Shebeen, which is huge and also happens to be one of the venues where you can drink alcohol. The site is easy to navigate and is also close to a bulging campground which spills its temporary inhabitants right into the event. Good luck getting any accommodation in or near town at a reasonable price, as most places – hotels, Airbnb, and nearby campgrounds – are booked out years ahead. We stayed at a motel in Warrnambool which was both affordable and comfortable. The 25-minute drive to Port Fairy is an acceptable trade-off, although I would probably prefer the sole shuttle bus late at night if I had been drinking.

We drove down on Thursday evening and met friends at a pub in Port Fairy for dinner, rather than risk the Melbourne Friday traffic. It turned out to be a good move, although judging by the number of people jostling for service in the pub it seems that most other people had the same idea.

Friday March 6

The evening started with Aboriginal elder Kankawa Nagarra, a  teacher and mentor, human rights advocate, and environmental activist. Her career in music has been an amazing journey and her songs speak compellingly of her country and upbringing.

We spent most of the time in The Shebeen, where the audience up the back is noisy and the sound is often challenging. It’s the same problem you encounter at the Blues Tent at JazzFest in New Orleans, though Port Fairy is often better. To be fair, it is really difficult to get the sound right in such large and cavernous tents.

The Gathering kicked off the evening in The Shebeen and their high-energy performance included some well-chosen covers but exposed the problem in the tent getting the sound right. The same occurred with Queenie & Hank as the techs behind the PA battled with balancing Henry Wagons’ strident voice with Queenie’s higher register. Their version of ‘Bad Moon Rising’, however, sounded ominous and timely.

At the River Stage (Stage 1) Blair Dunlop proved he is one of the bright stars of the current British scene. A recent album release, Trails: Queensland (Live), is a great example of his craft. He played some of his own old favourites such as ‘Feng Shui’ and ‘Sweet On You’, then added Holly Brandon on fiddle for the rest of the set which included the new song ‘Midday Mass’, from a forthcoming album.

Back at The Shebeen, Annie & The Caldwells, from Mississippi, brought a large dose of their gospel soul to the stage. Annie is backed by daughters Deborah Caldwell Moore, Anjessica Caldwell and goddaughter Toni Rivers; their eldest son Willie Jr. is on bass and youngest son Abel Aquirius is on drums. Many of the songs from their debut album Can’t Lose My Soul are classic call-and-response excursions which would be at home in a Southern church. The only downside was a slight battle with the sound that threatened to flatten the show, but it was eventually overcome by the energy from the ensemble.

Kasey Chambers and her band may have brought their own mixer because the sound for their set was perfect. Either that or the PA was finally brought under control. Chambers, who would rightfully be considered our leading country artist, is certainly still highly respected in Nashville’s Americana scene. Self-deprecating to a fault and assisted by a fabulous band that includes her father Bill (a great performer on his own), Chambers promised to run through a bunch of old songs going back to The Captain. You can always rely on Chambers to put on a great show and this was no exception. Superb.

Saturday March 7

It’s a long day at Port Fairy if you get there early. Today is also one of the coldest days I have experienced at the festival as the wind whipped off the Southern Ocean and put a definite chill in the air.

The Guitarists session at Stage 1 started at 10.15am and the evening finished 12 hours later at the same location. Nick Charles helmed the guitar session, inviting each guest to play a song and then playing in an ensemble piece (‘People Get Ready’ was one). This year’s event featured world-class pickers, including the Grigoryan Brothers, Jack Badcock (Dallahan), Lloyd Spiegel and Liz Stringer who performed a great rendition of Chris Wilson’s ‘Rose Tattoo’ with Shane O’Mara, who was later accompanied by Jac Tonks for a preview of the album launch the next day featuring the songs of Bert Jansch.

Then it was onto On the Couch with Brian Nankervis who dug into Josh Cunningham & Felicity Urquhart’s past to discover some very interesting stories. No one might have guessed that Cunningham was influenced by Marty McFly in Back to the Future and Ralph Macchio’s character in Crossroads. Urquhart told the heart-rending story of her late husband Glenn Hannah’s death which had most of us in tears. Next up Mary Coughlan began as a nervous guest but, after an a cappella version of ‘Strange Fruit’, relaxed and won everyone over.

Later, I saw Cunningham and Urquhart put in a fine hour at The Shebeen and Coughlan charm everyone back at Stage 2. Though I only got to see the final half hour of Coughlan’s show because she overlapped with Iron & Wine at Stage 1. This is where compromises have to be made.

Sam Beam, otherwise known as Iron & Wine, was travelling solo for this tour. Just Sam and acoustic guitar plus easily the most impressive beard of the festival. It’s difficult to describe his music other than to say it is quirky folk, with some epic songs and fascinating lyrics. He played some selections from his just-released album Hen’s Teeth which piqued my interest even more.

Emily Wurramara has come a long way since I first saw her at the Woodford Folk Festival more than a decade ago. From a tentative teenager to a compelling and confident performer, she sings and talks about her upbringing on Groote Eylandt, the environment and other issues close to her heart.

Liz Stringer featured with her band in The Shebeen for an impressive and powerful late-afternoon set that highlighted songs from her latest album The Second High, and also her commitment to social causes, especially the homeless (her recent tour raised funds for this).

Last year Willie Watson released his first album of original songs, and the wait has been worth it. The new songs slotted nicely into the selection of classics and others that he performs.

If you need to be cheered up this coming week, go and see Steve Poltz! He still has gigs in Melbourne and Sydney this week as well as The Blue Mountains Folk Festival. His recently released album is titled JoyRide and it contains the usual number of laughter-inducing songs. His show is like a stream of consciousness that is on the verge of going off on a tangent and into some comedy ditch but never quite does. This was an hour of joy, as his album title suggests. Arlo Guthrie meets Loudon Wainwright III and they take acid together. I cannot think of another current performer who is as consistently hilarious.

Jim Lauderdale and his Australian backing band definitely won the award as the best-dressed musicians at the festival. They finished off our day on Stage 1. Lauderdale is an acclaimed songwriter who does so many things with so many different people that he is hard to pin down. One minute classic country, the next Americana, then rock. It was great to see him with this band who really rocked.

That’s quite a day. Later in the day requires a jacket, beanie and some even wear gloves – a contrast with last year. Time to warm up with a scallop pie, a $10 delicious bargain, though this time it is scalding and there is an expectant wait while it cools down.

Sunday March 8

Today we start with Brian Nankervis and On the Couch. Emma Donovan was revealing and emotional, talking about her family. Steve Poltz, who seems to be everywhere, was hilarious telling his surreal stories. It’s a great way to start the day when the world outside seems to be in such dire straits.

A dash to the Reardon Theatre in town allowed us to hear Shane O’Mara & Jac Tonks launching their beautiful album Sorry Hides The Longing To Be Free: The Songs of Bert Jansch. O’Mara is an extraordinary guitarist who seems to be able to play almost anything and in this setting he shows another side of his talents. In Tonks he has found the perfect collaborator who brings her gorgeously expressive voice to the songs. This is also a great place to highlight the album, in an intimate setting where people are paying attention.

We have to see Steve Poltz again. His seemingly stream-of-consciousness stories light up the day and it will be good to head home tomorrow with a bellyful of laughter (if not a bellyful of scallop pies). Even though you might have heard some of his stories twice already this weekend, he can still bring on a hearty laugh. ‘Son of God’, from the new album JoyRide, rivals Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant for its epic quality when delivered live. It also occurred to me that Poltz is not only a great songwriter but also a very fine guitar player, things that sometimes get overlooked amidst the laughter.

Emma Donovan’s Take Me to the River show was definitely one of the highlights of the festival, as she chose some classic songs and added some originals to tell her story. The set list included, of course, Al Green’s ‘Take Me To The River’ as well as Stephen Stills’ ‘Love The One You’re With’, the Staple Singers’ ‘Keep Your Eyes On The Prize’ and ‘Freedom Highway’, a terrific version of Dylan’s ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, Bill Withers’ ‘Grandma’s Hands’, Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come,’ and Archie Roach’s ‘Wash My Soul In The River’s Flow’. Hard to go wrong with a list like that. This was all topped off by the new song ‘Riverlands’.

Sons of the East was the act that I was most looking forward to seeing. Since they were last at Port Fairy, the band’s career has been on an upward trend, and deservedly so. For some reason, their profile in Australia is not as high as I would have thought, despite the fact that their latest album, Sons, entered the ARIA album charts at No.6. As far as I am concerned they are one of our very best country-rock-roots bands ever. They are headed back to the USA and Europe mid-year, so their appreciation is international. They drew heavily from Sons, and it is a great album with plenty of songs that invite the audience to dance or sing along – or both. They have also learned a lot about crafting a festival setlist because they placed one of the great ballads on the album, ‘Sweet Thing’ (no relation to the Van Morrison song) perfectly in the middle of the set and then built to a crescendo from there. Great songs, great harmonies, great playing. What more could you ask for?

It was a great way to finish off the festival for me, though the evening continued with Fantastic Negrito and officially closed on Monday morning.

Overall, the festival presented a diverse range of high-quality acts across a range of genres in a great setting. Perhaps because the audience numbers seemed to be down slightly from last year, it seemed easier to get a seat in most tents. During the cost-of-living crisis, it is difficult to pay over $1000 for a couple of weekend passes and it will be interesting to see how this affects other events.