15 May 2012

The Folk Festival wants you to pay more still to save the Majestic

| johnboy
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my $100 for the majestic

The Folk Festival is a strange beast for a few reasons:

    — It relies on vast armies of volunteers working for free (often in highly professional capacities).

    — It charges like a wounded bull. Seriously it hoovers money out of my wallet harder than any casino I’ve visited.

    — It pays the most cursory to negligible amounts in advertising while constantly pushing for free PR (a sore point to those of us in the media).

    — It pays artists very little to nothing.

    — It gets tens of thousands of people through the gates to this profit making dream model.

    — And yet we’re constantly told it needs government handouts to make sure it keeps going.

Let us turn our thoughts now to The Majestic.

    — Once upon a time the Multicultural Affairs bods in the ACT Government paid a few tens of thousands for a Fringe Festival to the Multicultural Festival.

    — The Fringe was free to attend, the drinks were reasonably priced and it was pretty good entertainment.

    — But it was run by the colourful local figure of Jorian Gardner (now doing talkback radio for 2CA)

    — As far as I can tell Jorian, as is his way, annoyed the then Multicultural Affairs Minister John Hargreaves (there was huffing about burlesque being inappropriate but reasons can always be manufactured by motivated bureaucrats).

    — So the Fringe’s funding was given to the Folk Festival to run a fringey event inside the Folk Festival.

    — Now the punters had to pay hundreds of dollars or donate tens of hours to see the work of their public funding.

    — This did mean local talent finally got a run, something the Folk Festival had disgustingly neglected over the years.

    — This became known as “The Majestic” and it was wildly popular despite being in a tent shunted away from the main festival.

    — Now the Government funding for The Majestic has come to an end.

    Does the Folk Festival continue with an event that’s wildly popular with the punters?

    Of course not! It’s popular! They can soak the rubes for more dollars.

    And so we have the below begging letter asking you to cough up in advance so you can then pay a second fortune to get in and see something that used to, at bugger all public cost, be provided completely free in the middle of town.

    I often wonder if I’m too cynical, and then I realise I’m nowhere near cynical enough.

    I’ve got $100 I’ll pay to support The Majestic if it’s staged somewhere everyone can attend for free.

    We couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried.

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I’ve deliberately stayed out of this one as I’ve had my own beefs and chicken vindaloos with the Nash (not Nasho as someone called it — that’s national service which was phased out before I was around) and I’ll leave them between them and me — apart from one pithy comment elsewhere here today.

I am absolutely not qualified to comment on the financial stuff — TheObserver has more of the runs on the board and having an understanding of those machinations and I would counsel anyone to check their facts VERY carefully by questioning her (or him) on that score.

But (and I’m NOT talking about the OP/moderator here), the amount of blatantly wrong statements and glaring misinformation about what the folk festival* is could fill volumes. All this crap about wholemeal bread/mung bean etc. is quite palpably written by people who have never crossed the lintel at EPIC. There may have been a cornucopia of substances in years gone by but it’s very well hidden away now if it’s there.

Why sound off and display your abject ignorance if you’ve never been there? “You weren’t there, man. You don’t know! You don’t know what it was like!!

Piss or get off the pot, but above all, don’t unzip if you’ve got nothing to…….. yeah, this analogy needs to be taken out and shot. But essentially, if you’ve only got one leg to stand on, if you try to kick someone up the date you’re going to fall on a) arse, or b) face.

Ta da! Got it back.

(* I’ve never warmed to the habit of calling a festival the ‘folkie’ or ‘folky’. A ‘folkie’ is a person in my book.)

That’s my two cents’ worth and I’ll not spend a penny more.

Yawn factor has set in Ben_Dover. You clearly don’t get the Folk Festival, how it works, its pressures and all the rest of it. Hope life stays nice in your comfort zone.

Hey – given though that you are willing to do the research – why dont you independently research every single one of the assertions in the original post. See how many more inaccuracies you can find.

Extra points for conflations – like the appeal is a “Letter of Demand”. FFS Riot Act – you are not Andrew Bolt’s blog, but by gee you are making his look good…..

TheObserver said :

Ben_Dover. No you haven’t – not yet. Go and check the facts on the $225k for a start and then correct the record. BTW a link back to a previous Riot Act thread does not constitute research.

I did JB posted in error.

TheObserver said :

Cause and effect – yes – but I can tell you straight, the ACT Govt does not appear to me to be slightly interested in supporting a viable and vibrant event on the ACT calendar but is more than happy, per ‘Enlighten’ to pee millions down the drain. Fact is those other events always have had the massive cash boosts. The Folky is largely self reliant. Surely self reliance or the best attempt at it ought receive more consideration for support.

Irrelevant, the organisers of the Folk festival could and should try to find funding through sponsorship, in order to draw name acts in. It should not be a local govt matter or local govt sposorship.

TheObserver said :

And given that you choose to throw around assertions in the manner of someone shooting from the hip first and asking questions later – then ‘cowboy blogger’ seems fair comment to me. However, moving beyond that, go and get each individual negative assertion you’ve made, independantly fact check it and come back to us.

Your interpretation of my posting style is irrelevant and a distraction from the debate.

TheObserver said :

Likley the folky would love more corporate sponsorship – but with Canberrans such as yourself and the Riot Act owners so keen to diss the festival with nonesense, you are probably not doing the cause much good.

Claptrap, my views and those of the Riotct staff are irrelevant to sponsorship, and do not and will not affect that in any way..

Sandman said :

Some figures quoted so far.

50,000 attendees.
Minimum $100 for Saturday ticket only ( lots of people staying for the whole weekend)
Total received from customers (assuming tickets as well as festival merchandise?). $2.3 million

I know I don’t have the brilliant mind of Dr Sheldon Cooper but that doesn’t add up.

There’s nothing too suspicious about this, you just need to think about it. There are 2000 volunteers and 1000 musicians at the festival. Say they all go for all 5 days – that’s 15,000 ‘visitors’ who didn’t pay anything for their tickets. I think stallholders also get in for free, and count as ‘visitors’ but am not sure about that.

Additionally a decent proportion of the people who attend the folk festival buy multi-day tickets and end up paying significantly less than $100 per visit.

Ben_Dover. No you haven’t – not yet. Go and check the facts on the $225k for a start and then correct the record. BTW a link back to a previous Riot Act thread does not constitute research.

Cause and effect – yes – but I can tell you straight, the ACT Govt does not appear to me to be slightly interested in supporting a viable and vibrant event on the ACT calendar but is more than happy, per ‘Enlighten’ to pee millions down the drain. Fact is those other events always have had the massive cash boosts. The Folky is largely self reliant. Surely self reliance or the best attempt at it ought receive more consideration for support.

And given that you choose to throw around assertions in the manner of someone shooting from the hip first and asking questions later – then ‘cowboy blogger’ seems fair comment to me. However, moving beyond that, go and get each individual negative assertion you’ve made, independantly fact check it and come back to us.

Likley the folky would love more corporate sponsorship – but with Canberrans such as yourself and the Riot Act owners so keen to diss the festival with nonesense, you are probably not doing the cause much good.

Portaloos – yes, the folky has had them – but most recently as part of the mobile shower and toilet facilities – they are generally on the back of huuuugggge trucks up near the Mallee for one.

I remember mates in Melbourne sending out a flyer to their mailing list saying hey, we need money to record our CD, so please send us $15 now, then once we’ve recorded it we’ll send it to you. It got them enough of a critical mass to go in and record, not sure if it covered full costs but it gave them the kickalong they needed. (And the CD and launch was pretty good too.) So maybe that’s a better approach for the Majestic’s fundraiser? Donors responding to the flyer above could be effectively buying their ticket in advance for next year’s show, and even get some preferential seating rather than lining up for hours. They might not cover all Majestic costs in advance but would show the NFF organisers that there’s a good core of audience and a signal of a likely bigger rollup on the day so it’s worth taking the punt. Seems a more likely way of attracting support, and avoids some of the double or triple dip that inspired JB’s initial musings. Worth a thought?

Truthiness said :

I used to run an underground railroad into the festival, I’ve snuck thousands of kids in over the years. many of whom are your target audience. as good as the folky is, most young people don’t have hundreds of dollars to fork out to primarily see your show and smoke drugs and hook up with each other.

Don’t you think there’s something a little ironic in admitting to ripping massive amounts of money off a gig like the festival while calling yourself Truthiness?

I’ve simply done the right thing by paying the cash to get my kids into the festival over the years. It’s been a lot of money, but they love it and I’ve never regretted a single cent of it.

Hadley said :

HenryBG said :

LSWCHP said :

And organising a function that involves the safety and security and health and happiness of hundreds of performers and tens of thousands of punters involves much more than just “filling in forms”.

Lol! Guess who hasn’t seen the state of the Portaloos from about 3pm on Day2 onwards.

I don’t know. There are no portaloos at the NFF.

Thanks Hadley, you beat me to it. I’ve been going for 10 years and I don’t ever recall seeing portaloos. It could be that I’m having a senior moment, or it could be that Henry has no idea what he’s on about.

TheObserver said :

Hey – Ben_Dover. Can you find out a couple of things:

On what basis is it suggested that the folkie received $225k? Following Johnboy’s link I noted that the $225k was the total arts funding which went to a bunch of things, not just the folkie. Care to check that out and correct the record.

I certainly will, thank you for the heads up on that.

TheObserver said :

Also, with the other events that you are noting, do you have any facts or figures regarding the level of corporate or other sponsorship that such events receive that enable them to pay for the big name acts – and perhaps compare to the sponsorship etc that the Folkie actually receives?

But isn’t that cause and effect? If the folkie got sponsorship for big names woudln’t it be in a betetr position? Who is responsible for sponsorship/act booking? What is stopping them doing just that?

TheObserver said :

Or would that involve doing other than being just another cowboy blogger and doing a bit of yakka to support that which appears to this observer, being long on assertion and short on fact.

I am no a cowboy, and although I participate here, I woudl not cal it blogging. I have backed up my points with facts, you however have not.

Hey – Ben_Dover. Can you find out a couple of things: On what basis is it suggested that the folkie received $225k? Following Johnboy’s link I noted that the $225k was the total arts funding which went to a bunch of things, not just the folkie. Care to check that out and correct the record.

Also, with the other events that you are noting, do you have any facts or figures regarding the level of corporate or other sponsorship that such events receive that enable them to pay for the big name acts – and perhaps compare to the sponsorship etc that the Folkie actually receives?

Or would that involve doing other than being just another cowboy blogger and doing a bit of yakka to support that which appears to this observer, being long on assertion and short on fact.

Gungahlin Al said :

Sigh…

Personally I think the Nasho is one of Canberra’s (and Gungahlin’s!) best kept secrets.

I’ve been for the last 3 years. Only one day this year but the full 4.5 day stint the previous years. You would be VERY hard pressed to find such value. $100++ for a 90 minute concert versus $245 for 4.5 whole days packed as solid as you can take? Zero comparison.

I beg to differ.

Ben_Dover said :

Or if you want a moreequitable comparrion;

Cambridge Folk festival, tickets £120 ($193 Au) Three day ticket

Line up:

Clannad (Sat) Joan Armatrading (Sun) The Proclaimers (Sat)

John Prine (Fri) Loreena McKennitt (Sun) James Vincent McMorrow (Fri)

Nanci Griffith (Sat) June Tabor & Oysterband (Fri)

Roy Harper (Sat) Angelique Kidjo (Sun) Keb Mo Band (Sat)

Billy Bragg celebrates Woody Guthrie’s 100th Birthday (Thurs)

etc….

The National Folk festival doesn’t have ONE act of the quality or international renown of those named, let a lone three days worth plus hundreds of smaller acts. That is why it will always be a minor, publicly funded, dissapointment.

If people could not explain how they ran an underground railroad into the festival like some sort of revolutionary hero and then complain how high the ticket prices are that would be great!

Look — in a perfect world the fringe returns in all its ten day free tent of amazingness glory, The Majestic continues and the NFF drops ticket prices/volunteer hours so all and sundry can come in regardless of money/time.

We can sit around and bemoan what once was or we can work with what we currently have to keep it going. The Fringe tried to run a subscription program to keep it going after it lost government funding but it was no successful. I hope we can find a way to help keep The Majestic going that will not make people poop themselves in outrage. I hope we have more free arts festivals in Canberra to sit alongside current arts free arts festivals like You Are Here.

It takes a lot of work and a lot of passion and a lot of lobbying and unfortunately it also takes a lot of money.

I love you hadley, and I loved the fringe, more than the folky even. the burlesque was the best event I ever saw in Canberra. the majestic was good too, but the only reason I even got to see it is because one of your naughty minions snuck me under the tent flap, the line outside was horrendous.

I used to run an underground railroad into the festival, I’ve snuck thousands of kids in over the years. many of whom are your target audience. as good as the folky is, most young people don’t have hundreds of dollars to fork out to primarily see your show and smoke drugs and hook up with each other.

the fringe should be brought back, the majestic should be government funded and the folky should be free for under 18s.

if a non camping day pass should be $50, they’d likely double their attendance, just look at valve’s sales increases from discounts.

Hadley said :

HenryBG said :

Lol! Guess who hasn’t seen the state of the Portaloos from about 3pm on Day2 onwards.

I don’t know. There are no portaloos at the NFF.

Guess that explains why HenryBG keeps pissing in the phonebooth then.

pwnt. 😀

HenryBG said :

LSWCHP said :

And organising a function that involves the safety and security and health and happiness of hundreds of performers and tens of thousands of punters involves much more than just “filling in forms”.

Lol! Guess who hasn’t seen the state of the Portaloos from about 3pm on Day2 onwards.

I don’t know. There are no portaloos at the NFF.

LSWCHP said :

And organising a function that involves the safety and security and health and happiness of hundreds of performers and tens of thousands of punters involves much more than just “filling in forms”.

Lol! Guess who hasn’t seen the state of the Portaloos from about 3pm on Day2 onwards.

Gungahlin Al9:54 pm 16 May 12

Sigh…

Personally I think the Nasho is one of Canberra’s (and Gungahlin’s!) best kept secrets.

I’ve been for the last 3 years. Only one day this year but the full 4.5 day stint the previous years. You would be VERY hard pressed to find such value. $100++ for a 90 minute concert versus $245 for 4.5 whole days packed as solid as you can take? Zero comparison.

I love that I don’t know many of the acts – it is part of the adventure that is the Nasho just dropping in on venues and sampling what’s on offer. I’ve fallen in love with acts I’d never heard of before. The “folk” bit of folk music means “people” – ordinary people doing the music of their homes. Anyone who says “I don’t like folk music” has obviously never experienced it, because there is no one “folk music”. The main thing that is common is acoustic instruments. That’s about the end of it.

Who’s the idiot comparing the Canberra folk festival acts with a major British rock festival FFS? It’s a folk festival. In Australia. It’s like saying the World drag racing championships at Summernats are not good enough – just because they’re cars doesn’t mean they are the same thing. Just because they’re musicians doesn’t mean they are the same thing.

Regarding the Majestic, sorry Hadley but I’ve spent very little time in there. It’s out of the way, and just to small to fit many people in. Things I have tried to see have often been full. I had never gotten around to going to Fringe, so have no opinion on that.

But to blame the Nasho for the Fringe festival situation is silly. Blame should go where it belongs – John flippin Hargreaves. So he pisses off in October and everyone can pursue getting it back as a free-standing festival again right? Maybe (come to think of it) the funding ask is a way of saying they’d rather get rid of it? Dunno, but I think the folk festival has bigger problems than Fringe. This year was clearly a struggle for them. Reduced venues and acts, far less blackboard opportunities (a big hit for new acts trying out their skills), and somehow just lacking some of the vibrancy of the previous years. I think the talk of big profits is daft and ill-informed. And I think the return to the Canberra community goes way beyond straight economic numbers of hotel bookings. The Canberra music and dance community itself owes a heck of a lot to the festival.

I really do hope it comes back with a bang next year – with or without the Majestic.

Yes, it does take 10 people a year (or more) to organise a 5 day festival, and I think it’s fairly amazing that they do it with that few people. Also, an average salary of 60k p.a. is not what quite what I’d call limousine worthy.

Something that I think has been missed throughout this discussion is vibe of the festival. It’s not just “go for X hours see Y acts”, there’s a whole sense of community. I grew up with this festival: I’ve been a paid performer, I’ve volunteered. When I wasn’t doing either, I forked out the cash because I love it. I’ve seen the festival evolve over the >20 years I’ve been going.

The Majestic has been a welcome addition that has provided a unique and popular venue which is home to some amazing experiences: ones that would now feel out of place in another venue. I sincerely hope that it does get the recognition and support it deserves.

HenryBG said :

LegalNut said :

~$600k in staff costs for 10 staff is not bad at all and as Hadley put it, the staff aren’t running around in gold plated limousines.

$600k for 10 staff = $60,000 each, for filling in forms and filling in some more forms

$400k for 1,000 performers = $400 for possessing talent and art and skill and sharing it with the world.

I’m not surprised the organisers like that equation, but do they seriously question the actual artists needing and deserving a bit more $$$?

Are you being deliberately obtuse?

There are a small number of people who work fulltime for the festival, ie all year long. They operate out of a small office in Mitchell. $600k per annum for the combined efforts of those folks over a year is pretty damn modest.

On the other hand, the artists who perform at the festival are paid for 4 days at most, and for many of them only 2 or three days. Much smaller sums spread over a large number of performers is totally reasonable.

And organising a function that involves the safety and security and health and happiness of hundreds of performers and tens of thousands of punters involves much more than just “filling in forms”. That is just a silly and pointlessly provocative statement.

Last time I was there, they didn’t have 10 Staff.

If the Floriade 30 day event, that people like to pick on, can be delivered with 10 people why does the NFF need that.

PS. As to the Floriade comparison, it is hard to compare a “Tourism Event” to money making ventures such as NFF or Summernats.

PPS – The bill for those “Couple of tents with stages” is over $100,000 for the event.

LegalNut said :

HenryBG said :

LegalNut said :

~$600k in staff costs for 10 staff is not bad at all and as Hadley put it, the staff aren’t running around in gold plated limousines.

$600k for 10 staff = $60,000 each, for filling in forms and filling in some more forms

$400k for 1,000 performers = $400 for possessing talent and art and skill and sharing it with the world.

I’m not surprised the organisers like that equation, but do they seriously question the actual artists needing and deserving a bit more $$$?

I can only assume the 600k includes payroll tax and super. Not to mention the fact that you would get $80k+++ doing the same form filling, stakeholder engagement and project work in the APS.

Presumably they do that as well. After all, does it really take 10 people 1 year full-time to organise a 3-day event?

Nah, I know how this stuff works –
“Oh look, it looks as if we’ll make a $50,000 profit this year”
“Maybe we can pay the performers $450 each, instead of $400?”
“Nah, we’ll hire another full-time staff member for the year”.
I’ve left out speculating about the process by which that additional staff member is selected following advice from my lawyer.

uhh,yes, rest assured that the staff of the National Folk Festival are faceless bureaucratic automatons who have no idea what it is like being an artist, aren’t themselves artists working on an arts festival to subsidies their own creative endeavours.

I have worked for several arts and community festivals and have never worked for one that can pay artists what I think they deserve.What planet are you from that a festival will pay an artist sixty grand for four days out of the year? What point are you trying to make?

If I am not getting paid to fill out forms for the festival then I am volunteering my time which is a phrase that does not impress my real estate agent which means I have to go back to work at the supermarket which means I have less time to put towards filling out forms for the festival which means a lower quality festival.

Also if you had any concept of what actually goes on in the office of a folk festival you would know that its mostly just the artists who have to fill out endless forms, majority of the time to comply with increasingly expensive oh&s compliance laws.

Some figures quoted so far.

50,000 attendees.
Minimum $100 for Saturday ticket only ( lots of people staying for the whole weekend)
Total received from customers (assuming tickets as well as festival merchandise?). $2.3 million

I know I don’t have the brilliant mind of Dr Sheldon Cooper but that doesn’t add up.

I also noticed staff costs of $600k quoted, yet most of the workers are volunteers? Do they have 600 people taking home a pocketful of cash for the weekend or 6 full timers working the whole year at a very reasonable wage?

LegalNut said :

[Yep, I’d be 90% sure he has an extra zero on the end of the NFF numbers. 15 million would mean that every person (whether punter, artist or volunteer) was paying $300 per day to be there as attendance figures are calculated on a person-day basis.

My bad, I assumed $300 average ticket price x 50,000 atendees.

HenryBG said :

LegalNut said :

~$600k in staff costs for 10 staff is not bad at all and as Hadley put it, the staff aren’t running around in gold plated limousines.

$600k for 10 staff = $60,000 each, for filling in forms and filling in some more forms

$400k for 1,000 performers = $400 for possessing talent and art and skill and sharing it with the world.

I’m not surprised the organisers like that equation, but do they seriously question the actual artists needing and deserving a bit more $$$?

I can only assume the 600k includes payroll tax and super. Not to mention the fact that you would get $80k+++ doing the same form filling, stakeholder engagement and project work in the APS.

LegalNut said :

~$600k in staff costs for 10 staff is not bad at all and as Hadley put it, the staff aren’t running around in gold plated limousines.

$600k for 10 staff = $60,000 each, for filling in forms and filling in some more forms

$400k for 1,000 performers = $400 for possessing talent and art and skill and sharing it with the world.

I’m not surprised the organisers like that equation, but do they seriously question the actual artists needing and deserving a bit more $$$?

Hadley said :

Ben_Dover said :

Ticket receipts,

Glastonbury

$43,000,000
Folk Fest

$15,000,000

WOAH! Where are you getting that number from? 15 MILLION in ticket sales? That is amazing!

Seriously though, is there a source on that bad boy or are you just plucking numbers out of the air at random to try and trash the festival for not booking U2?

Yep, I’d be 90% sure he has an extra zero on the end of the NFF numbers. 15 million would mean that every person (whether punter, artist or volunteer) was paying $300 per day to be there as attendance figures are calculated on a person-day basis.

Interesting. After reading this post I asked my uncle (an Irish folk singer based in Sydney) why he stopped playing at the NFF and he said it wasn’t financially viable.

Ben_Dover said :

Ticket receipts,

Glastonbury

$43,000,000
Folk Fest

$15,000,000

WOAH! Where are you getting that number from? 15 MILLION in ticket sales? That is amazing!

Seriously though, is there a source on that bad boy or are you just plucking numbers out of the air at random to try and trash the festival for not booking U2?

HI CHESTER

look, the Majestic has never been a replacement for the fringe. You can’t replace a free ten day festival with a tent inside a four day ticketed festival. The NFF didn’t take anything away from anyone, they were funded to do something and they did it and now the funding is up and that funding will (hopefully!) go to another arts community event.

I don’t plan on accusing the ACT Society Of Bucket Drummers of destroying The Majestic because they get funding to do a Bucket Drummer festival and the NFF does not.

I don’t know the inner workings of the ACT government so I don’t know the deep meaning behind why they canned the Fringe, and why they decided to give it to the NFF and why they have decided after their 3 year committment is up to not give it to the NFF.

I do know that I think we made something really special inside the NFF and it would be great for it to be able to continue. The NFF is committed to this and is exploring options to make that work. Crowd sourcing alternate funding is one of them.

Or if you want a moreequitable comparrion;

Cambridge Folk festival, tickets £120 ($193 Au)

Line up:

Clannad (Sat) Joan Armatrading (Sun) The Proclaimers (Sat)

John Prine (Fri) Loreena McKennitt (Sun) James Vincent McMorrow (Fri)

Nanci Griffith (Sat) June Tabor & Oysterband (Fri)

Roy Harper (Sat) Angelique Kidjo (Sun) Keb Mo Band (Sat)

Billy Bragg celebrates Woody Guthrie’s 100th Birthday (Thurs)

The Unthanks with Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band (Sat)

Seth Lakeman (Sun) Nic Jones (Sun) Lau (Sat/Sun)

Gretchen Peters (Fri/Sat) Ruthie Foster (Sun)

Karine Polwart (Sat/Sun) Four Men and a Dog (Fri/Sat)

Dry the River (Thurs) Benjamin Francis Leftwich (Thurs)

Treacherous Orchestra (Fri) Raghu Dixit (Fri)

Pine Leaf Boys (Fri/Sat) The Unwanted (Sat/Sun)

Jim Moray’s Silent Ceilidh (Sat) Tim Edey & Brendan Power (Thurs)

Anaïs Mitchell (Sun) Kan (Sun) JuJu (Sat)

Lazy Lester and Friends (Sat) Steve Tilston (Fri) The Mighty Doonans (Fri)

The Destroyers (Fri) Spiro (Fri) Brian McNeill (Fri/Sat) Megson (Thurs)

Phantom Limb (Sat) Fay Hield & The Hurricane Party (Sat/Sun) The Staves (Sat/Sun)

Ross Ainslie & Jarlath Henderson Band (Sat/Sun) ahab (Thurs)

Naomi Bedford (Thurs) Habadekuk (Sat/Sun) Blackbeard’s Tea Party (Fri)

Steamchicken (Fri) Lera Lynn (Sun) Ioscaid (Sat/Sun) Paul Cookson (Sun) Polly Paulusuma (Thurs)

CLUB TENT SHOWCASES:
Lucy Ward (Fri) O’Hooley & Tidow (Sat) Rachel Sermanni (Sun)
The Young’uns (Sat) Pilgrims’ Way (Sun)

THE DEN (EMERGING TALENT STAGE): including
Liz Green (Fri) Nick Mulvey (Fri)
Charlene Soraia (Sat) King Charles (acoustic) (Sat) Eska (Sat) Karima Francis (Sun) Moulettes (Sun)

Ben_Dover said :
Glastonbury Faire UK £195 + £5 booking fee ($ 321.59 Au)…
That’s terifically helpful comparative information Ben_Dover.

Ticket receipts,

Glastonbury $43,000,000
Folk Fest $15,000,000

Glastonbury: donates $$$$$ millions to charity.
Folk Fest: got $225,000 in Events Assistance Program money from the ACT taxpayer.

Glastonbury highlights: U2, Morrisey, Beyonce, Coldplay.
Folk Fest Highlights; Peter Coombe will perform his 1980s hits, including Wash Your Face in Orange Juice, Alex and Annette Hood with their Folktales and Furrytails theatre show and Canada’s Dry Bones.

I’m mainly just pissed that Fringe isn’t in Civic anymore in all honesty, I thought it was a great small-scale community festival and I don’t have enough money to pay for a folky ticket just to go to it. In all honesty, the NFF is a fun time and once I find more gainful employment I would probably fork out to spend the weekend at EPIC with my hippy mates. But until I have the cash to burn Imma bitch about it.

Unfortunately I can’t comment on the money side of things, so I guess I also only have anecdotal proof to say that any profit goes directly into running the festival.

Not wanting to donate to help The Majestic and then pay again for a ticket is something I totally understand. Ripping in to the festival, taking pot shots at it crowd sourcing and refusing to support even the concept of donating is something I can’t.

An opinion that the festival should not get money from anyone at all, not government or patron, is also totally valid. Accusations that the festival has no interest above squeezing as much money out of its audience as possible are offensive.

If you do not want to donate money to the festival please do not donate money to the festival.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Hadley said :

also in the interest of full disclosure, I book & run The Majestic at the NFF and have done for three years. Prior to that I was a performer for two years and prior to that a volunteer for seven years. I am not currently under contract from the National Folk Festival and my posts in no way reflect thoughts or opinions of their board of management or core staff.

I understand how frustrating ticket prices can be, but take issue with comments that imply the festival is raising prices so staff can continue to put gold plating on their limousines. I also take issue with comments from moderators that contain the sort of integrity that you expect from New Weekly and Famous magazine.

Can you then provide a full itemised list of spending and profit margain and explain in detail why asking for money upfron then again on the day?

Have you read the Financial Statements that were linked to earlier? It is pretty clear from those that the Festival isn’t running a profit and, while the spending is as opaque as any other organisation’s profit and loss, it does point out where the expenses are. ~$600k in staff costs for 10 staff is not bad at all and as Hadley put it, the staff aren’t running around in gold plated limousines.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd1:23 pm 16 May 12

Hadley said :

also in the interest of full disclosure, I book & run The Majestic at the NFF and have done for three years. Prior to that I was a performer for two years and prior to that a volunteer for seven years. I am not currently under contract from the National Folk Festival and my posts in no way reflect thoughts or opinions of their board of management or core staff.

I understand how frustrating ticket prices can be, but take issue with comments that imply the festival is raising prices so staff can continue to put gold plating on their limousines. I also take issue with comments from moderators that contain the sort of integrity that you expect from New Weekly and Famous magazine.

Can you then provide a full itemised list of spending and profit margain and explain in detail why asking for money upfron then again on the day?

also in the interest of full disclosure, I book & run The Majestic at the NFF and have done for three years. Prior to that I was a performer for two years and prior to that a volunteer for seven years. I am not currently under contract from the National Folk Festival and my posts in no way reflect thoughts or opinions of their board of management or core staff.

I understand how frustrating ticket prices can be, but take issue with comments that imply the festival is raising prices so staff can continue to put gold plating on their limousines. I also take issue with comments from moderators that contain the sort of integrity that you expect from New Weekly and Famous magazine.

Good to see Jorian Gardner back in from the cold. The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

Is that THE Hadley? 😮 Of CYT and the local theatre circuit fame? 😮 If so, hi Hadley, I miss you, you weird and wonderful fellow 😀

<3Chester

Ben_Dover said :

Glastonbury Faire UK £195 + £5 booking fee ($ 321.59 Au)…/

That’s terifically helpful comparative information Ben_Dover.

I wonder why no-one’s thought of putting on a festival for 135,000 people in Canberra featuring U2, Morrissey, Biffy Clyro, B.B. King, Wu-Tang Clan, Two Door Cinema Club, Metronomy, The Master Musicians of Joujouka, Coldplay, Elbow, Paolo Nutini, Tinie Tempah, Rumer, The Gaslight Anthem, Tame Impala, Stornoway, Beyoncé, Pendulum, Paul Simon, Laura Marling, Don McLean, The Low Anthem, Fisherman’s Friends, Primal Scream, Mumford & Sons, Fleet Foxes, Bright Eyes, The Wombats, The Vaccines, The Naked & Famous, Brother, Chipmunk + several hundred more Acts, you know, actual acts, ones people have heard of, with international recognition for $321.59 a ticket? Perhaps you should give it a whirl?

Sorry John, I didn’t mean you, I meant your anonymous ‘friend who knows a thing or two about festivals’, specifically the implication that someone is ‘cleaning up’ from the festival.

When you put forward anecdotal evidence when you are in the position of an editor and journalist for a news website you damage the reputation of The Majestic and the festival as a whole.

You can’t put up this many posts where you absolutely trash the Folk Festival, not to mention quotes from anonymous festival experts that imply the festival is embezzling profits and then say that you support the Majestic.

Nothing to do with money, your initial and subsequent posts show you have no interest in supporting The Majestic.

At no point have I suggested embezzlement.

I’m sorry you feel that way Hadley.

Hadley said :

I work really hard to pay artists what they ask for, and can only think of a few occasions where I have had to negotiate fees and give an artist less than what they ask for. I am not sure where you are getting this info from. If artists are unhappy with the fee they are paid I would hope they would talk to me rather than a news outlet about it.

Hi Hadley, I should have been clearer, I was talking about the wider festival, not the majestic.

I think the majestic is great and the folk festival should fund it out of their normal operations.

LegalNut said :

– It charges like a wounded bull. Seriously it hoovers money out of my wallet harder than any casino I’ve visited.

This year, the most expensive ticket was $425 which got 4.5 days of entertainment from 9am to 2am and camping on site. I can think of very few events that offer so much programmed entertainment for such a low price.

Glastonbury Faire UK £195 + £5 booking fee ($ 321.59 Au)

Acts:

U2
Morrissey
Biffy Clyro
B.B. King
Wu-Tang Clan
Two Door Cinema Club
Metronomy
The Master Musicians of Joujouka

Coldplay
Elbow
Paolo Nutini
Tinie Tempah
Rumer
The Gaslight Anthem
Tame Impala
Stornoway

Beyoncé
Pendulum
Plan B 1
Paul Simon
Laura Marling
Don McLean
The Low Anthem
Fisherman’s Friends

Primal Scream y
Mumford & Sons
Fleet Foxes
Bright Eyes
The Wombats
The Vaccines
The Naked & Famous
Brother
Chipmunk

+ Several hundred more Acts, you know, actual acts, ones people have heard of, with international recognition.

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/line-up-poster/

I work really hard to pay artists what they ask for, and can only think of a few occasions where I have had to negotiate fees and give an artist less than what they ask for. I am not sure where you are getting this info from. If artists are unhappy with the fee they are paid I would hope they would talk to me rather than a news outlet about it.

I find it hard to comprehend with such huge ticket prices+camping prices and fairly decent attendance that the Folk festival would not be turning a huge profit.

Other big festivals (say the Big Day Out or Splendor in the Grass) also get about 10,000 punters through the door and would have to pay the performers huuuuuge sums of money, eg this years Big Day Out headliners Kanye West and Soundgarden would charge at a guess $400,000+ per performance. I doubt any of the acts in the Folk Festival would charge anything even remotely close to that that or even receive that much in totality.

That plus having almost all of your staffing volunteered should add up.

How they are not turning a bigger profit margin is beyond me.

well they don’t want to turn a profit now do they?

HenryBG said :

poetix said :

…The minimum payment on Saturday, though, which was the only day I could go, struck me as too expensive just to have a look (it was about $100). …They could have a pass for a couple of hours to be upgraded if the buyer likes what she sees.

Lol! I was working as a volunteer at a music festival (outside of Canberra) not so long ago and a dopey cow came up to the gate and had the same suggestion.

Think about it.

When your two hours is up, how do the organisers know you’ve left or make sure you’ve left?

I was too busy laughing at this silly woman to even get any words out. I can’t believe people are this thick.

You really failed at charm school didn’t you, HenryBG? Or were you expelled? How about some sort of beeper welded into a compulsory nose ring for all the dopey cows? Moove along now, nothing to see.

Look this wasn’t intended as a general kicking of the folk festival. If people like going then hooray.

(although as mentioned experienced festival organisers do raise an eyebrow at the cost structures generating the wafer thin operating results)

My objection is being asked to pay again for the majestic now, and yet again at the gates next easter.

The transaction should, in my opinion, be:

— Festival puts on event that I wish to attend.

— I buy ticket to attend.

Nice and simple and no hurt feelings.

Now the folkie is free to conduct their affairs however they choose. But I’m free to express my opinions about their public begging letters.

Muttsybignuts said :

Who actually keeps the profit from the Folk Festival?

I believe you will find it listed under “staff costs” on the balance sheet.

Interesting that “staff” rake in vastly more than the actual performers do, don’t you think?

poetix said :

…The minimum payment on Saturday, though, which was the only day I could go, struck me as too expensive just to have a look (it was about $100). …They could have a pass for a couple of hours to be upgraded if the buyer likes what she sees.

Lol! I was working as a volunteer at a music festival (outside of Canberra) not so long ago and a dopey cow came up to the gate and had the same suggestion.

Think about it.

When your two hours is up, how do the organisers know you’ve left or make sure you’ve left?

I was too busy laughing at this silly woman to even get any words out. I can’t believe people are this thick.

poetix said :

I was in Canberra for once this Easter and thought I might go, for the first time, to check this out. The minimum payment on Saturday, though, which was the only day I could go, struck me as too expensive just to have a look (it was about $100). …………. They could have a pass for a couple of hours to be upgraded if the buyer likes what she sees. And before anyone criticises me for being cheap, I do support a lot of local arts events, but this struck me as just too much.

You only show your wristband to enter the festival grounds. Once you’re in, you’re in. They would have no way to ensure that someone with a 2 hour pass who didn’t upgrade actually left. There are usually after-5 pm tickets that are cheaper than the full day ticket.

As for the price, compared with $70-90+ to see a performance at The Canberra Theatre, which might be only 2 hours long, I agree with others who view this as good value. It’s only not good value if you don’t like what’s on offer and don’t want to spend the day and evening there … in which case, don’t go.

Muttsybignuts said :

Who actually keeps the profit from the Folk Festival?

The 2011 annual report LegalNut linked to appears to show around $12000 profit (looking at the cash flow section). I imagine it goes back into next year’s festival.

They received $2,256,735 in receipts from customers, and paid out $2,581,549 to suppliers and employees.

Muttsybignuts10:20 pm 15 May 12

Who actually keeps the profit from the Folk Festival?

OK. I’m a conservative, atheist, left wing, libertarian gun nut with a buzz cut and a military background who now works in the defence industry. Ten years ago I hooked up with a tree-hugging, anti mining and anti war demonstrating, animal-rights advocating hippy lesbian (well, ex-lesbian) who is now my wife. Go figger.

Music was our common bond, although I play hardcore Chicago Blues and she plays noodly hippy stuff. So, shortly after we met she insisted that I accompany her to the folk festival. In the interest of developing the relationship (ie continuing to have sex with her after a long drought) I agreed, although I anticipated hours of agony watching Morris “Dancers” and listening to bush “Poets”.

As it turned out, it was bloody great and we’ve been to every one since. I’ve never once felt that I didn’t get fantastic value for my money.

I’ve always shared Snarky’s view, that a hundred bucks or so for 14 hours of continuous entertainment is actually pretty damned cheap. I know there’s lots of volunteers volunteers, but I’ve always assumed that the performers are reasonably paid. I don’t like the idea that people are getting ripped off, and someone is making unreasonable profits on the backs of volunteers and underpaid artists.

And I’m very concerned about this threat to The Majestic. I tried to go see a show there this year, and I abandoned the attempt because the queue was about 200m long, and there were lots of other acts on offer. If the festival organisers are considering killing what may be the most popular venue at the show then they are off their rockers.

It really would be nice to find out where the cash all goes.

Wow, johnboy, how much more wrong could you be about how the Folk Festival works.

Lets start at the top:

– It relies on vast armies of volunteers working for free (often in highly professional capacities).

Yes it does as does almost every event of this type. Woodford, Port Fairy, Cygnet, Illawara and every other folk festival works this way. They can’t afford not to.

– It charges like a wounded bull. Seriously it hoovers money out of my wallet harder than any casino I’ve visited.

This year, the most expensive ticket was $425 which got 4.5 days of entertainment from 9am to 2am and camping on site. I can think of very few events that offer so much programmed entertainment for such a low price.

– It pays the most cursory to negligible amounts in advertising while constantly pushing for free PR (a sore point to those of us in the media).

I see no problem with this. It is a not-for-profit cultural event and I couldn’t imagine it really having a marketing budget. That said the annual financial reports (http://www.folkfestival.org.au/info/management) show $105 000 in marketing costs in 2010-11.

– It pays artists very little to nothing.

The last annual report shows that performance fees amounted to $471 350 for the 2011 festival. That seems a little more than close to nothing.

– It gets tens of thousands of people through the gates to this profit making dream model.

Those same financial reports show a $224 000 loss in 2010-11 (and the rumour mill suggests possibly more in 2011-12) with operational costs over $1m, staff costs over $600k.

– And yet we’re constantly told it needs government handouts to make sure it keeps going.

With a loss of $224k and grants of just $75k it seems that further government funding would be appropriate. As I understand it, there are about 50 000 who attend the festival each year. This amounts to $1.50 in government and other funding per person. In contrast, the ACT government alone (without taking additional sponsorship into account) spent $8.50 on each attendee to Floriade.

The bottom line is that the National Folk Festival is not the high-profit, exploitative, rip off event that you suggest. Rather it is an event that costs a lot of money to put on, is actually quite well priced (cf the $60 per hour charged for the recent and popular Prince concert in Sydney) and does actually support local artists and the local economy.

fabforty said :

How about the ACT Government provide less for the Summernats and more for the Folk Festival ?

Why?

fabforty said :

How about the ACT Government provide less for the Summernats and more for the Folk Festival ?

Summernats- thousands of interstate visitors that fill every hotel within 20km of epic, don’t care how much petrol they need to buy from our local servos, go out to dinner every night in our local restaurants, clear the fridges of the local bottleshops, provide all the inner north fast food joints with record breaking weeks, speed through our red light cameras and generally spend every cent they brought with them.
Input to local economy- huge.

Folk Festival – a couple of thousand interstate visitors who roll into town in their Subarus and old diesel vans running on old chip oil. They camp at the event (fees go to festival). They bring their home grown organic vegetables and homemade rye bread with them to make all their meals, and any mind altering substances they take we’re more than likely grown at home as well.
Input to local economy- negligible.

Let’s hope you aren’t a financial advisor forr the ACT government.
( and on the off and highly unlikely chance you are unaware of the actual figures, ACT government gives summernats $35,000 per year for business and marketing purposes, which they probably get back in fines no worries).

I was in Canberra for once this Easter and thought I might go, for the first time, to check this out. The minimum payment on Saturday, though, which was the only day I could go, struck me as too expensive just to have a look (it was about $100). I reminded myself that I don’t really like folk music and gave it a miss (although possibly broadening my understanding of what that might be is why I wanted to go in the first place). They could have a pass for a couple of hours to be upgraded if the buyer likes what she sees. And before anyone criticises me for being cheap, I do support a lot of local arts events, but this struck me as just too much.

How about the ACT Government provide less for the Summernats and more for the Folk Festival ?

Is the Folk Festival transparent about is sponsorship money? I think the US embassy coughed up a small fortune this year?

Endrey said :

So much anger. Just move the majestic elsewhere and everyone can have what they want.

Indeed

So much anger. Just move the majestic elsewhere and everyone can have what they want.

TheObserver said :

Allow me to deal with the first link – that shows how $225k was divvied up between a bunch of things – the folkie didnt get the lot as you seem to assert.

The funding of the Majestic you actually got right so that would be part of the 1%

Ticket prices – what is the point you are trying to make? Snarky addressed that in any event.

As for insinuation, allow me to bow, grovelling, to you Johnboy – as your post is a mix of insinuation, half truth and push poll dressed up as polemic and really is very long on assertion and woefully short on back up.

But it’s ironic really, a blogsite where the moderator is the troll.

I just wonder if you can source the background material on the fact that the event doesnt pay performers well or at all, and perhaps you could also provide your (factually based) insights on the local acts that have been ignored for years in the utterly damnable way insinuated by you.

You may also wish to reflect on whether your guidelines for posting are of equal applicability as on any measure you might need to moderate yourself- or is this ‘do as I say and not as I do”?

And as for being precious, I have a sh*t eating grin on my dial as I type – because you are back peddling like mad because you got nothin’.

All that and not one word actually addressing a single point made.

I had the conversations with folk festival organisers over many years where they said the local market had no interest in local music. (mistake pointed out by the wild popularity of the event)

I’ve talked to the musicians who play there about what they get paid. But let’s face it while vastly accomplished there’s rarely anyone booked who wouldn’t otherwise be playing at the turner bowlo.

And I’ve had the conversations over many years with the volunteers, so I know a thing or two there.

So I’m confident in my assertions. But I’d be happy to stand corrected should you have any actual information to bring to the discussion.

All we seem to get is abuse.

I was happy enough for the festival to continue on it’s way, albeit with personal reservations.

But this whole deal with the majestic stinks to high heaven (and the ACT Government is as to blame as anyone).

My apologies for sharing my opinion on the subject. But I don’t intend to stop because of you.

Allow me to deal with the first link – that shows how $225k was divvied up between a bunch of things – the folkie didnt get the lot as you seem to assert.

The funding of the Majestic you actually got right so that would be part of the 1%

Ticket prices – what is the point you are trying to make? Snarky addressed that in any event.

As for insinuation, allow me to bow, grovelling, to you Johnboy – as your post is a mix of insinuation, half truth and push poll dressed up as polemic and really is very long on assertion and woefully short on back up.

But it’s ironic really, a blogsite where the moderator is the troll.

I just wonder if you can source the background material on the fact that the event doesnt pay performers well or at all, and perhaps you could also provide your (factually based) insights on the local acts that have been ignored for years in the utterly damnable way insinuated by you.

You may also wish to reflect on whether your guidelines for posting are of equal applicability as on any measure you might need to moderate yourself- or is this ‘do as I say and not as I do”?

And as for being precious, I have a sh*t eating grin on my dial as I type – because you are back peddling like mad because you got nothin’.

TheObserver said :

Struth Snarky, you are actually asking JB to do some research and get some facts to back up his long winded assertions. Health and Safety hint – when you start turning blue I’d suggest you stop holding your breath. I for one would love to see the basis for about 99% of what Honest Johnboy has posted.

Ooh you’re a special one aren’t you. Insinuation with no effort at all to actually address the argument.

Let’s see.

The folk festival this year got $225,000 in Events Assistance Program money from the ACT taxpayer.

Here’s all the links you might need to the transfer of funding from the Fringe Festival to the Folk Festival to run The Majestic.

Here are the folk festival ticket prices

Here the folk festival claims they get 50,000 people through the gates.

— Above is published in full their letter of demand that the community pay in advance for the right to be charged to see the show at the Majestic.

What more exactly would you like?

Snarky said :

Any sources of actual numbers anywhere JB? While the Festival may well clear $3-4 million or more I’ll bet their outgoings all up are not cheap either, even if they don’t pay staff or performers (thinking of insurance, printing and advertising, security and other outsourced staff etc.) How much do they actually make? How much do you think they should be allowed to make before they incur a spray?

I have no concern about any venture turning a quid. (Although I note the festival purports to be non-profit).

But in general I prefer a funding model where they put on a show and I choose if I want to pay for it.

Not I pay for them to put something on and then I pay to be allowed inside. For mine that’s a bit much.

Struth Snarky, you are actually asking JB to do some research and get some facts to back up his long winded assertions. Health and Safety hint – when you start turning blue I’d suggest you stop holding your breath. I for one would love to see the basis for about 99% of what Honest Johnboy has posted.

johnboy said :

So let’s do this again.

On the back of taxpayer subsidy, massive volunteer effort, and steep prices they are swimming in cash.

And yet they’re asking the community to pay in advance for a part of their festival they will in turn charge further admission for?

Any sources of actual numbers anywhere JB? While the Festival may well clear $3-4 million or more I’ll bet their outgoings all up are not cheap either, even if they don’t pay staff or performers (thinking of insurance, printing and advertising, security and other outsourced staff etc.) How much do they actually make? How much do you think they should be allowed to make before they incur a spray?

This in from a friend who knows a thing or two about festival management but would prefer not to put his name to it:

nice spray on the folk festival!

i agree if they can’t make money of that ticket cost with almost no staffing cost and minimal act cost they must be stoned!

their production is two parts of nothing inside marquees with some staging sections.

someone is CLEANING UP off it!! my initial calcs show they would have cleared almost 3 mill on ticket sales if they do 10,000 weekend tickets, plus the bar which would be at least another 600k I would think, plus the stall holder fees they are smashing it.

So let’s do this again.

On the back of taxpayer subsidy, massive volunteer effort, and steep prices they are swimming in cash.

And yet they’re asking the community to pay in advance for a part of their festival they will in turn charge further admission for?

It’s nice work if you can get it I suppose.

DrKoresh said :

It’s mindboggling to me that these supposed hippies can justify the price-gouging and savings account rape for what they bill as a charming, folksy and relaxed alternative community festival.

Hippies + “folk” music + Greenie politics + multiculturalism + “alternative” acts + vegan food / animal rights stalls + “art” and “craft” + ACT govt involvement = perfect firestorm of right on P/C madness.

Thank god only silly hippies are enticed by such dire bilge, they deserve to be ripped off and taken advantage of.

No, I’m not a nice person.

The only reason I used to go was for the pharmacological cornucopia it used to offer, but it’s just not worth the entry fee, and they’ve made fence hopping much more difficult than it used to be in past years. It’s mindboggling to me that these supposed hippies can justify the price-gouging and savings account rape for what they bill as a charming, folksy and relaxed alternative community festival. It’s sickening.

Bit grumpy this morning Johnboy?

Endrey said :

Kill it.

Who cares about the folk festival? Overpriced, over-attended, under-considered.

What garbage.

Overpriced $110 for music from 10:00am to midnight sounds good value to me. We saw 19 acts on the Saturday, and while there were maybe 2-3 I could have lived without the rest were great. $6.80 per great act is value for money in my eyes.

Over-attended Huh? It wasn’t packed like my daughter says GTM was on Sunday. And if there’s lots of people going then maybe (and I’m going out on a bit of a limb here ) its because the Festival is delivering what they want.

Under-considered. What is that supposed to even mean?

As to the OP’s comment “Seriously it hoovers money out of my wallet harder than any casino I’ve visited.” after you’ve paid what I’d consider a pretty reasonable price to get in, anything you spend after that is discretionary. Mrs Snarky and I always take our own lunch and buy a bit of dinner, maybe a few drinks. And we know we’ll be buying CDs as well, but that goes to the artists and I’m more than happy to do that.

We looked at Bluesfest, but the cost is substantially more, and taking time, accommodation and travel into account too it’s a pretty expensive alternative. And the NFF always offers a couple of name bands plus a swag of ones you’ve never heard of but are still amazingly talented performers.

Finally, the Majestic tent isn’t a permanent structure at EPIC, and presumably it costs to hire it, erect and service it and take it down. The gov’s done it up to now, but next year someone else will need to pay for it. Why wouldn’t you ask the people who benefit from it?. I’ll be happy to kick in a few dollars towards it.

GardeningGirl1:29 pm 15 May 12

nice_enough said :

The Folk Festival is odd, why is it out gated up and Epic, why can’t it be a city wide event that takes place in the CBD and surrounds, something more like Austins South by South West or the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Events peppered throughout the city venues and temporary stages throughout the city.

The way it is locked up in EPIC now doesn’t really add any value to the city and people of Canberra as it doesn’t interact with the city at all, it may as well be held in Bourke for what it does to the Canberra economy or the “vibe” of the city.

+1
I keep wanting to go and check it out, but for that price in the charming surrounds of the dilapidated showground?

Kill it.

Who cares about the folk festival? Overpriced, over-attended, under-considered.

Just run the majestic for $30/head in Glebe Park in a warm month. Maybe adjunct to the multicultural festival so the food and drink’s taken care of.

The Folk Festival is odd, why is it out gated up and Epic, why can’t it be a city wide event that takes place in the CBD and surrounds, something more like Austins South by South West or the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Events peppered throughout the city venues and temporary stages throughout the city.

The way it is locked up in EPIC now doesn’t really add any value to the city and people of Canberra as it doesn’t interact with the city at all, it may as well be held in Bourke for what it does to the Canberra economy or the “vibe” of the city.

Live music at Easter time? No contest. http://www.bluesfest.com.au is where it’s at.

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