Record early bird ticket sales announced at the festival’s Programme Launch on Saturday night have bolstered the energy stocks of festival organisers, with big cheers all round from the 400 in attendance.
Festival General Manager Amanda Jackes spoke to the crowd, announcing that ticket sales are 10% ahead of last year, and at the same time saying that this is a vote of confidence from our people. She warned that the festival finances are always on a knife-edge.
“Our history has shown that ticket pre-sales can be volatile and don’t always reflect what happens on the day, but it has to be a good sign for us,” said Jackes.
Showcasing more than 400 acts across 25 venues during the six days of the annual summer event (Dec 27 – Jan 1), Woodford Folk Festival’s 31st programme is an evolution of the cultural, artistic and social expression it has become internationally known for.
Festival goers venturing to the stunning 500 acre parkland north of Brisbane will be treated to genre-crossing performances in music; trad, blues, folk and rock, world and indigenous, right through to dance, circus, spoken word, comedy, a series of pertinent conversations in the speaker’s programme and a full-to-the-brim Children’s Festival.
Head of Programming, Chloe Goodyear said it was hard to narrow down a list of acts to name as features this Festival:
“There are so many performers we’ve been having conversations with over many years from Australia and across the world, this is both a year of firsts along with a year of great past-performers returning. We are pretty sure there are going to be some delighted supporters and as always, an abundance of new discoveries,” she said.
Watch the Woodford Folk Festival Sizzle Reel
WFF 2016 30sec from Woodford Folk Festival on Vimeo.
Premier and Arts Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk congratulated the festival on its success.
“Woodfordia is a very special place for tens of thousands of people who attend the internationally-acclaimed Woodford Folk Festival each year,” the Premier said.
“My government is proud to support Woodford Folk Festival through Arts Queensland and Tourism and Events Queensland, recognising the importance of this annual event in enhancing the State’s cultural vibrancy and driving visitation to Queensland.” the Premier said.