Woodford Folk Festival organisers have issued a call to action to its closest supporters, hoping to boost sluggish ticket sales for this year’s event.
Festival Director Amanda Jackes reported that ticket sales were down a concerning 15% from this time last year.
While the famous 6-day annual music and cultural festival, held at the end of December, is certain to proceed this year, Ms Jackes warned that the trend seriously threatened its viability going forward.
“The message is a rallying cry to the many thousands of people who have enjoyed festivals in the past, but who have not quite committed to this year,” she said.
“The current rainy weather in south-east Queensland has not helped, even though the forecast for the festival itself is for near-perfect conditions.
I’m sure many of our patrons may not realise the financial seriousness, because the experience of attending the festival always speaks of an emphatically successful event, which of course it is culturally.”
Ms Jackes said that this year will feel no different, with a programme celebrated as one of the strongest in years. And despite major rising event costs post-pandemic, the festival had worked hard to keep core ticket price increases to a minimum.
“In the last six years, adult day tickets have only gone up by 8% (from $130 to $140), and adult season camping tickets have increased by just 4% (from $647 to $672),” she said.
“When you look at what our 1800+ artists and performers deliver every single day, and how the cultural breadth of the programme embraces people of all ages - including children, with their own festival within the festival - it’s truly a great-value event.”
Like many independent festivals throughout Australia in recent years, not-for-profit Woodfordia has faced sustained existential challenges beyond its control.
The pandemic wiped out two Woodford Folk Festivals in 2020 and 2021. In its wake, costs surged by as much as 40% and the organisation had to rebuild its team in order to be able to put on a large-scale event.
"The 2022/23 festival proved to be our most successful ever."
“The return festival in 2022/ 23 proved to be our most successful ever,’ Ms Jackes said, “but it gave us perhaps a false confidence that we were through the worst, and bound for a bright future,”
Despite strong early sales for last year’s event, they fell away when the nationwide crisis in the music industry started unfolding, with festivals cancelling across the country. This, coupled with a cyclone forming off the Queensland coast in late November, severely impacted attendance, leading to a financially devastating result.
The Cat Empire @ Woodford Folkd Festival 2019
“Nonetheless, we have regrouped, as we’ve done in the past after weather-impacted festivals, and thanks in large part to generous State Government infrastructure and programme support, we are now set to put on one of the finest festivals in our 37-year history.”
“We remain hopeful that this call to action will move the dial back in our favour,” Ms Jackes said. “In return, we can promise that everyone who comes to the party will be rewarded with a fantastic festival experience in a few weeks’ time.”
The Woodford Folk Festival has played a pivotal role for Australian artists over the years with many quoting the festival as being a powerful influence on their creative journey and resulting career successes.
The 2024/25 Woodford Folk festival Line-up.
This year's line-up, boasts a diverse catalogue of Australian talent alongside artists from 20-plus countries representing 450-plus performers.
Celebrating its 30th year, the programme offers a pulsating wonderland of captivating music, artistic expression and unbridled imagination: six days of escapism where joy and love mingle with sustainability and inclusiveness that's cross-pollinated by workshops, speakers, comedy, arts, crafts, yoga, wellness practices, poetry, installations and so much more.
The full Woodford Folk Festival line-up is here.
