Boolarra Folk Festival turns 21!
The multi-award winning Boolarra Folk Festival will celebrate its 21st birthday this year with a magnificent, free community event held within the beautiful setting of the mountain ash trees of Gippsland’s Strzelecki Ranges.
During the first weekend of March the festival will present music, market stalls featuring local arts and crafts, festival merchandise and food stalls offering a diverse range of delicious cuisines.
Since the festival’s inception in 2003 over 800 mostly local musicians have entertained audiences, which have grown to over 9000 each year, on the main stage in Centennial Park, the Memorial Hall and ARC Yinnar. This year’s festival will open on FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 7pm, at the Boolarra Memorial Hall with a special, free celebration featuring extraordinary Gippsland musicians. The ever-popular STRZELECKI STRINGBUSTERS will be followed by Paul Buchanan’s VOODOO PREACHERS playing original raw, electric blues. The evening will close with SMOKIN’ DOG JOHNSON, a swampy, dirty blues band from Boolarra.
Saturday, March 2, is the main event, with a full day of incredible artists and bands from 10.30am until 8pm. Festival goers will enjoy HALF CUT HICKS, a combination of banjo, mandolin, trombone, ukelele, sidchrome, bass and drums creating a high energy hillbilly blues sound, and BONEYARD BLONDES, who play a mix of blues and rock originals and covers with a Boneyard twist. ALLY ROW, an indie pop-folk duo and 2023 winners of the Port Fairy Street Fair Busking event, will be performing as well as the HIP POCKETS, a 10-piece R&B soul band with a pumping rhythm section and sweet vocals.
A vibrant market will also be held in the adjacent Railway Park on the Saturday. From 50 market stalls in the early days of the festival, now over 100 art, craft and food stalls will be set up for the festival’s 21st birthday.
This free community event would not be possible without much appreciated sponsorship. The Latrobe City Council have provided funding since the very first festival and Loy Yang B continues to be a major sponsor.
Free Camping is available at Boolarra Memorial Park.
Car parking is available, including accessible parking.
CONTACT: Rick Teychenne 0408 696 243