The Folky Nexus: Bridging Hearts through Music, Tradition and Participation

Words by Chenoeh Miller : Illustration by Paul Summerfield

With a commitment to blurring the boundaries between performers and punters, the 2024 National Folk Festival’s collaborative approach has resulted in a slew of new initiatives (Hello Electro Trad Rave) snuggled up alongside annual favourites and an appropriate amount of mystery around the potential return of bygone traditions – Bass Olympics anyone?

You know the sign of a passionate festival programmer when they can’t utter a sentence without dropping at least three program items.

I had the pleasure of catching up with the talented trio of locals who share the Artistic Director’s role this year – Holly Downes (H), Chris Stone (C) and Michael Sollis (M). Between them, it’s an endless list of recommendations. Too many to fit in this word count, so I suggest checking out the Folky website pronto.

This year’s festival is marked by a dedication to the team’s core ethos, emphasising the empowerment of artists, communities, and audiences through collaborative engagement.

The festival’s guiding principles – Excellence, Inclusion, Integration, and Sustainability – have created more opportunities for audience-artist collaboration, cross-artform integration, and community participation.

These fundamental elements have always been the bedrock of the festival’s distinctiveness; this year, they are being embraced and amplified, including a long overdue expanded programming for First Nations artists.

Each day presents numerous opportunities for engagement, ensuring that everyone can find a meaningful way to be involved in this year’s vibrant celebration of artistic collaboration.

Let’s get into the chat!

What was your favourite moment in the last 24 hours?

(M) Searching for treasure in a canoe captained by my 2-yearold son on Wallagoot Lake.

(H) I’m connecting with the folk family at Newstead Live this weekend in Victoria, where I perform with Canberra’s folk treasure, Fred Smith.

What is your earliest memory of the Folk Festival?

(M) Trying to get as close to backstage as possible to check out behind-the-scenes in between cleaning toilets!

(H) Staying up all night playing tunes with new-found folk friends when I was 15.

Are we calling it The Nash? Folky?

(M) We are a broad church, although we’ve noticed that Canberrans tend to call it to the Folky; interstaters tend to call it The Nash, and the stalwarts from the foundation days tend to call it the National Folk Festival.

(H) In Victoria, at least The Folkie tends to refer to the Port Fairy Folk Festival, so I typically say The Nash…

Why do you think Canberra audiences will enjoy the festival? Is it an essential part of our cultural pride?

(H) The festival is multifaceted, so there is something for everyone, regardless of age and stage! Younger people can be inspired by Young Folk showcases in the morning and then can get on stage themselves at the Youth Blackboard sessions each day after a workshop on performance skills with Tassie songstress Claire Anne Taylor to calm their nerves. At the other end of the spectrum, you might enjoy our octogenarian all-stars, 80’s Folk. You can join them for a singing session or get your boogie on with the Canberra Dance Theatre Gold Dancers, who pride themselves on growing old disgracefully!

(M) As a proud Canberran raised on Ngunnawal country, I’ve always maintained that the National Folk Festival is Canberra’s most significant and important cultural event. It reflects a diversity of perspectives and worldviews. It is a place where curious minds can go and experience both the familiar and the new – a wonderful reflection of Canberra’s vibrant and eclectic nature.

How does it differ from other festivals in the country?

(C) Our festival stands out for its participatory nature. We encourage active engagement, from playing in sessions to attending workshops and interacting with artists. This year, we’ve focused on enhancing these opportunities, ensuring a more immersive experience for our audience. Rather than passive consumption of art, we have designed this festival to offer transformative experiences for everyone.

How have you addressed marginalised groups in the 2024 program? First Nations, LGBTQI+

(H) Part of our responsibility is to represent the diversity of our applications and engage groups facing barriers to festival application and participation. LGBTQI+ representation includes performances by artists and advocates like Grace Petrie from the UK (check her out – you won’t be disappointed!) and an all-inclusive dance ball led by LGBTQI+ Irish Set Dancing Group Queer The Set with a cameo from our own Canberra Qwire.

(C) First Nations programming has been foundational to this year’s Festival, with musicians like Radical Son, poetry workshops by Us Mob including a tribute to First Nation icon Kerry Reed Gilbert, dancing with Wiradjuri Echoes, and cultural Ngunnawal interactive workshops with Richie Allan. Additionally, we are featuring various artists from the Australian National University’s excellent Yil Lull Studio, integrating First Nations culture across the festival.

What’s missing from the Australian festival landscape?

(M) A deeper focus on bridging the gap between artists as ‘performers’ and audiences as ‘consumers’. Music, dance and spoken word should be an organic part of everyone’s life and community. We all love being inspired, soothed and motivated by watching professional performers share their craft on the big stages. However, this should never feel like a barrier to participation in these creative practices in our own lives.

(H) Festivals can foster and encourage active participation and empower everyone to live more prosperous, expressive and connected lives through engaging in the arts. Our nation loves to watch professionals play sports, but that doesn’t stop us from playing sports ourselves. It should be the same with music – be inspired by excellence in the arts rather than let it put you off from making music and art yourself!

You all have a music background. Previous years have brought vital elements of dance, poetry, and performances to the Folky. Have you expanded any of these elements or returned to a music-focused event?

(C) We’ve reinforced the presence of Dance and Spoken Word, ensuring they integrate seamlessly with other festival elements. This year, all dance events feature live music, and we’ve introduced new key events that see dance, music and spoken word spill out of the marquees and take over the Festival grounds. These include an Acoustic Street Dance Competition with Canberra dance studio Project Beats, an Argentine peña, and Greek rebetiko – bringing culture and creativity together for a total party. We’ve also programmed dance acts across our major stages, rather than only having dance at ‘dance’ venues.

Who is your primary audience? Is there a community that you would like to see more attendance from?

(H) Our audience comprises a diverse mix from Canberra and around the country. We aim to mirror this diversity in our programming, celebrating various folk traditions and creative cultures. While we already have a strong family presence, we’re looking to grow this further, building on our family-friendly program that has evolved over the years – for example, we will have a daily family dance, with opportunities to build a Scandinavian village or learn folk song and dance from Aceh and Sumatra with Suara Dance. Additionally, take the kids along to try out different folk instruments facilitated by the young tradition-bearers of Ceoltóirí Naarm.

What will you be doing during festival time? Partying? Still organising? Troubleshooting? Picking up garbage??

(M) Whether troubleshooting or checking out the artists, we will be having fun! It’s a privilege to be involved in a Festival that we all grew up with and to work with such a strong community that cares deeply about it.

(H) At some point, you’ll find me planted in the bass forest in the session bar with Mortimer (my double bass) for the annual Bass Clef Jam. Bass-identifying musicians and bass-adjacent instruments are welcome. The Bass Olympics may even happen again this year!

What can’t you live without?

(C) John Craigie’s album Opening for Steinbeck (Live). The opening song, Dissecting the Bird, has kept me going when things have felt hard. Make sure you catch him at the Nash this year; I’ll be requesting he sing this song for us!