The St Albans Folk Festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary over the Anzac Day long weekend with extra frivolity and facilities.
The four-day, laid-back event will showcase local and international performers, songwriters and musicians, with punters coming from all over Sydney to stay at the camping grounds and enjoy the sounds of fiddles, accordions, banjos, acoustic guitars and singing, as well as children's activities, food and market stalls.
Committee member Graham Black, who has been going to the festival for 15 years, said it was a "very relaxed but vibrant, family-orientated event" set against the backdrop of the historic town.
"St Albans village comes alive during the festival with a diverse range of traditional and modern sound, as musicians take part in impromptu street performances in a convivial and relaxed style," said Mr Black.
“While festival-folk saunter through the village, the landscape becomes a kaleidoscope of colour."
Over 50 bands are set to play, including Mr Black’s five-piece acoustic folk and blues group, BluesAngels.
Local watering hole Settlers Arms Inn - one of Australia’s oldest pubs - is at the heart of the festival, offering an outdoor stage for musicians, a family-friendly beer garden where children can pet chickens and peacocks that roam the grounds, and pub food for punters.
“Adding to the safe festival vibe and surrounding the area, is an abundance of tents and RVs that line the picturesque banks of the Macdonald River where many enjoy a cool dip,” said Mr Black.
“More camping areas are available this year with improved toilet facilities and publicity courtesy of great support from Hawkesbury City Council.”
There are four stage areas, and festival-goers can participate in dance and singing workshops, learn to play or tune instruments, and listen to storytelling and poetry.
Mr Black advised festival-goers that while there are meals available on site, the next-closest shop is 15 kilometres from St Albans.
Festival director Anthony Woolcott said in addition to the stage areas, there is also music happening at pubs and clubs, and around the campsites.
“It’s very inclusive and family-orientated, and it’s about getting away from the big smoke of the city and coming out here to enjoy the scenery just as much as the music," he said.
There will be a riverside opening ceremony featuring a Welcome to Country as a mark of respect and to acknowledge the past and continuing connection that the local Darkinjung and first peoples have with the land.
The St Albans Folk Festival will take place from Thursday, April 25 to Sunday, April 29. Book at www.stalbansfolkfestival.com.au.
