Woodford Folk Festival

Woodford Folk Festival
Official Artwork for the 2015/2016 Woodford Folk Festival.
Genre	Various
Dates	27 December – 1 January
Location(s)	Woodford, Queensland, Australia
Years active	1994–present
Founded by	Queensland Folk Federation, Bill Hauritz, Amanda Jackes
Website
www.woodfordfolkfestival.com

The Woodford Folk Festival is an annual music and cultural festival held near the semi-rural town of Woodford, 72 km north of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the biggest annual cultural events of its type in Australia. Every year approximately 125,000 patrons attend the festival. Approximately 2000 performers and 438 events are programmed featuring local, national and international guests.

The festival takes place over six days and nights from the 27th of December to the 1st of January each year. It features a wide range of performance styles, musical genres and nationalities, with artists playing at over 35 different venues within the festival grounds. Along with musical acts, the festival offers a wide spectrum of entertainment such as Street Performing, Public Speaking, Stand-Up Comedy and a Children's Festival. The streets are lined with restaurants, cafes, stalls, bars, street theater and parades. The festival supplies both Seasonal and Overnight camping ground to patrons, with most attendees staying for the entire week of festivities.

The 3 Minutes Silence is a recurring Woodford tradition, part of the New Year's Eve celebrations where festival goers within the grounds gather for 3 minutes of candle-lit silence to welcome the new year. A Sunrise Ceremony then takes place on the Woodfordia hilltop on New Year's Day. The whole community greets the Sun as they listen to Tibetan chants and guest musicians on the grassy hill. The final evening of the festival culminates in a spectacular New Year's Day closing ceremony, The Fire Event.

Unlike many festivals which are held in or near urban centres, the Woodford Folk Festival takes place on a 250 hectare rural property known as Woodfordia, situated approximately 7 kilometres North of the Sunshine Coast town of Woodford. The land is owned by the Queensland Folk Federation, who are the producers of the festival.

In 2011, flooding throughout Queensland also affected Woodfordia, leaving the Queensland Folk Federation (QFF) with millions of dollars of repair bills. To save the organisation, the Moreton Bay Regional Council (MBRC) purchased the land from the QFF and then leased it back to them for 50 years. The MBRC owns the land, however the QFF still owns all infrastructure and improvements made to the land.

The Woodford Folk Festival developed from the Maleny Folk Festival which began in Maleny in 1987. In 1994, the festival was moved 20 km away to Woodford when it outgrew the Maleny Showgrounds site.