FolkWorld Updates on Fairbridge Festival

UPDATE: 11 May 2023

Hi folks,

We’re getting closer… to finalising the new location for our beloved Fairbridge Festival.

We’ve been busy scoping out a mammoth 32 sites, which has been shortlisted to four amazing locations now under consideration. A big thank YOU for all your emails, messages, comments, and responses to our survey telling us what you think. Your feedback has really helped us in this huge task of choosing a new location – and we know you’re going to be as excited as we are for what’s coming.

With love
Your FolkWorld team

HELP US FIND A NEW HOME: 27 February 2023

Hi folks

We’re on the hunt for a new home!

While we’ve already had some welcoming approaches for new locations to host the next Fairbridge Festival and scouting for venues by the team is well underway, we’d love to hear from you – our festival community.

Whether you’ll be coming along to the next Festival for the very first time or if this event has been your annual family pilgrimage for the last 29 years, please tell us what you think by spending 5-10 minutes taking part in our short online survey.

All answers will remain anonymous and your valuable feedback will help inform our new venue decision.

If you have any further questions or suggestions, please email us at hello@folkworld.com.au.

We can’t wait ‘til we can get folksy and festive with you all again soon.

With love
Your FolkWorld team

Tell us what you think

REGIONAL VENUE PROPOSAL: 20 February 2023

Hi folks

FolkWorld is seeking to attract a new regional venue partner to co-host its annual multicultural family friendly music festival, starting from April 2024.

We are ideally looking for a long-term relationship with a regional community to:

Co-host a world class multicultural family-friendly music festival
Attract new audiences to the region and develop local cultural tourism
Boost the local economy through tourism and new employment opportunities
Enhance community wellbeing and strengthen social inclusion
Promote local and First Nations culture and build civic pride
Establish a festival site which can also function as cultural space throughout the year

Read more in the Regional Venue Proposal and if you have any questions or suggestions, please email us at hello@folkworld.com.au

With love,
Your FolkWorld team

UPDATE: 21 November 2022

Dear friends

In late October, we shared our concerns that Fairbridge Village may no longer be a suitable venue for the next Fairbridge Festival. After months of attempting to find solutions to the issues raised by Fairbridge WA Inc. (the managers of Fairbridge Village) – the FolkWorld board has made the difficult decision to cancel Fairbridge Festival 2023 and focus on securing a new venue for future festivals.

Although Fairbridge WA eventually agreed to a modified festival, the restrictions and extensive changes that would have to be made to the event, and at this late stage in our production timeline, means we wouldn’t be able to deliver the same festival you know, love, and deserve after almost 30 years.

Details about how the board arrived at this decision are provided below, but some of the restrictions to the festival would have included limiting capacity by 50% and not being able to utilise some of our favourite venues on site. In addition to this, areas we usually use for camping and parking would not be available in 2023 due to biosecurity measures in place on the surrounding farmland.

While we realise this news is disappointing, it is the best decision for FolkWorld and our festival in the long term. Fairbridge WA management have indicated that their organisation is heading in a new direction, which raises doubts about holding the festival there in future years. We believe that with every challenge comes an opportunity to overcome and grow and we’re excited about the next evolution of our organisation and beloved festival – we hope you are too!

We will be forever grateful to Fairbridge WA Inc. for letting us host our amazing event year upon year at their historic site. While it is the end of a beautiful era, it’s not ‘the end’, just the next chapter in our long history of producing a world class family music festival and bringing folk and world music to the Western Australian community. We have already had some welcoming approaches for new locations, and we’ll be seeking your opinion soon on not only the venue, but what the new Fairbridge Festival will become.

Our flagship event will continue to be a celebration of folk and global music, dance, culture, and camping. An inclusive family event in a location that allows us to grow and collaborate. This festival has been created out of community with every guest, artist, volunteer, vendor, staff, sponsor, supplier, and member, contributing to what has become a truly unique event in Western Australia.

Our next steps will focus on securing a suitable new home and in keeping with the spirit of community achievements, we will be opening our membership up and inviting you to be an active part of the evolution of FolkWorld.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for being a part of this amazing journey. More news coming soon!

If you have any questions or suggestions, please email us at hello@folkworld.com.au

With love,
Your FolkWorld team

Want more information?

Have a read through our long history and festival highlights below, and follow the links for more information:

Media Release