Help us spread the word!

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We are keen to try to spread the word about the Festival beyond established folky circles and to the wider “music interested“ community.  You may be able to help.

Posters – We have posters in search of homes, in bars, cafe’s, bookshops or wherever else they may do useful work .  We have the city centre pretty well covered but need help to get them out into the suburbs and the wider region.  If you know places in your local area where you think you could place some, drop a line to Don at secretarywff@gmail.com letting him know where you are and how many you would like and he will try to figure out how to get them to you.

Beer mats – We have also invented cool little beer mats with the “60 years young” logo on them. 

We have homed a bunch of these at the bars around the city where live music happens, but again have not reached far into the suburbs or the wider region.  If there are bars or cafes that host live music in your neighbourhood where you think they might be placed again drop a line to Don at secretarywff@gmail.com with the details.  Offer valid while stocks last.

But wait there’s more.  

Signage – We have resurected and are looking to repurpose some 80cm x 240cm coreflute hoardings, originally made for the 2018 Festival.  We would like to home these up in high visibility spots with high vehicle and/or pedestrian traffic.   If there are spots in your town where you think you can find a home for one, again drop a line to Don at secretarywff@gmail.com with the details (and if possible a snapshot).

Volunteering at Wellyfest 2025

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The Festival relies on volunteer input to help the event run smoothly. If you’d like to get involved we have a number of volunteer roles available.

In particular we are in need of a duty electrician to be onsite or on call and able to arrive at short notice (either a Registered Electrician or someone with an Electrical Inspector’s ticket).

Other areas where there are likely to be roles to be filled are:

  • First Aid – we need at least two people with level 2 first aid skills – preferably with ATP
  • Housekeeping and hygiene – rubbish bin clearance and cleaning the loos and showers
  • Site setup and breakdown – general furniture shifting, venue and site setup and experienced people with construction site experience to help with stage, sound and lighting rig setup. Training certificates for site safe and working at heights are highly desirable for a few people.

People willing to commit to being rostered in these roles during or before or after the Festival, may be offered a full weekend festival ticket.

There may also be roles to be filled in areas such as:

  • Security and registration – checking and selling tickets, cash and EFTPOS handling, venue ticket checks; and
  • Assisting the Youth Programme.
  • People willing to commit to being rostered in these roles may be offered a discount on their festival ticket.

If you are available to assist, or if you’d like more information about any of these opportunities please drop a line to nigel.parry@gmail.com with “Volunteering” in the subject line.

’60 years young’ merch now available

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You may have noticed the new ’60 Years Young’ logo we’ve designed to mark the 60th folk festival held in the Wellington region. You can now order from a range of T-shirt and hoody styles sizes and colours featuring the design from here.   Here’s an example:

Your chance to become a fashion leader in your neighbourhood, or just turn yourself into a walking and talking billboard for the Festival!

Earlybird tickets now open!!

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We are all go!!
Tickets for Wellyfest 2025 Now “Alive Alive Oh!!”

Tickets for the 2025 60th Anniversary edition of the Wellington Folk Festival are now on sale at Humanitix. Early bird prices run until midnight 28 September.

We have had a bit of drama with our usual infrastructure provider Hiremaster going into liquidation. Thanks to a sustained bout of heroics from Simon Bishop we have found alternative suppliers without breaking the budget or having to further increase prices. Buy the man a drink (no, make that two!).

One consequence that Festival regulars will note is that the marquees for the Main Stage and Balladeer Stage will be a little smaller than in recent years. Regard it at as a chance to make new friends.

In addition, we have made a few changes to the ticket structure and prices for 2025. The first is a small increase in most prices. The costs of putting on a Festival (or anything else on this planet) never go down and we were conscious that last year’s Festival ran at a significant loss, albeit mainly as a result of the weather significantly impacting gate sales.

The second change is that we have decided to no longer charge for children (aged 12 or less). We have done this in an effort to make the Festival more attractive as a long-weekend family outing for people with young children.

For a full breakdown of ticket prices, please see the ticket page.

Call for Village Green stallholders!

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We are looking for people selling folk-related craft and produce for stalls on the Village Green at Wellyfest 2025. 

This could include woodwork, metalwork, pottery ceramics, knitted goods, musical instruments, candles, and a wide range of fabric goods. There is no charge for having a stall and in 2025, we’re offering two free Festival registrations for each stall. 

Wellyfest happens each year at Labour Weekend on a beautiful site off Moore’s Valley Road in Wainuiomata. It attracts around 700 as day visitors or weekend campers. The Village Green will be located in the area off the end of the Maire Hall, in an area between the main concert marquee and the smaller venues and main food outlet. There is space for up to 20 stalls.

Stall selling beverages

Hardieboys stall Wellyfest 2023

If you are interested in having a stall at Wellyfest 2025, drop us an email to alexanderdouglaswright@gmail.com with “Village Green” in the subject line. Please pass the word on to others who may be interested. 

Opening of Early Bird Ticket Sales Postponed

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Just a quick heads up from the Committee – we had intended to open early bird ticket sales for the Festival earlier this week.  However, in the light of recent events, as set out below, this has been postponed. 

Unfortunately, Hiremaster, the Festival’s primary infrastructure provider for many years, has been placed in liquidation. Arrangements were in place for Hiremaster to again provide most of the infrastructure for this year’s Festival.  As a result of the liquidation of the company we are now having to wait a week or so to learn whether those arrangements will be honoured.  

In the meantime we are investigating possible alternative suppliers, should these be needed, what the costs might be, and what the implications might be for our budget and for ticket prices.  

Thank you for your patience.

If you’re not already on our email list, sign up to our mailing list here to be sure of getting updates as soon as possible.

Wellyfest 2025 Artist Announcement

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Wellyfest 2025 Guest Performer Announcement

We’re thrilled to announce our main stage guest lineup for the 2024 Wellington Folk Festival!

Mark your calendars now for October 24th to 27th Labour weekend), at the Brookfield Outdoor Education Centre (the former “Scout Camp”) in picturesque Moore’s Valley, Wainuiomata, for a long-weekend celebration of folk music, culture, and community.  There’s someone for everyone in this year’s lineup with a diverse range of folk music styles on show.

The guests are:

Adam and Marika

Adam Ogle is well known in the Australasian scene, for his work in the musical Once and the band Roughtown, and has played with the likes of Sharon Shannon and Manus McGuire.  Marika Chia has been in the music scene in New Zealand for over a decade and has performed with musicians such as Ms Lauryn Hill, Jordan Luck and other NZ greats. She’s been a staple at the Auckland Folk Festival for the past 4 years.  Together they merge their love of Folk, Gypsy and Contemporary/Original works to create their own sound. Combining soulful ballads with electric tunes, they have drawn crowds to stages around Auckland.

Fiona Ross

Renowned for her honest, earthy style and deep knowledge of the Scots singing tradition, Fiona Ross is widely recognised as one of the leading interpreters of Scots song today. A finalist for Scots Singer of the Year at Scotland’s prestigious Trad Music Awards, she has earned acclaim for her emotive performances and powerful storytelling. Now based in Australia, Fiona continues to champion traditional Scottish song through concerts, workshops, and lectures. Whether delivering a haunting muckle ballad, a tender love song, or a rousing Jacobite chorus, Fiona captivates audiences with her deep connection to the Scots repertoire and the rich stories woven through it.

We Mavericks

Masters in the art of connection, they interweave effortless strings, soulful vocals and driving rhythms. Troubadours Victoria Vigenser (NZ) and Lindsay Martin (AU) bring their original, worldly songs alongside a formidable string section comprising Australia’s premier cellists/multiinstrumentalists Rachel Johnston (NZ) and Trent Arkleysmith (AU). Their sound is equal parts contemp-folk, alt-country and acoustic-pop, but no words can describe the heartfelt way they connect with their audiences. We Mavericks are currently touring their highly acclaimed new album throughout Aotearoa, Australia, Europe and the UK.

Klezmer Rebs

Klezmer Rebs are 6-8 piece Wellington band formed in 2002 that plays (mostly) klezmer music, an engaging style of world/folk music born out of the Yiddish/Jewish culture of eastern Europe in the 1800s and 1900s.  Together the Klezmer Rebs capture the true klezmer spirit with songs of joy, sorrow and rebellion.  While many of songs are sung in Yiddish (that mostly-Germanic and very onomatopoeic language), they also perform songs from Italy, Amsterdam, Ukraine and other eastern European cultures, Ladino Sephardic melodies, Argentine Yiddish Tangos and 1940s swing vocal songs.

Rhys Crimmin

Rhys Crimmin is a world travelling singer song writing multi-instrumentalist one-man band and teller of Australian stories.  He covers genres from folk to country, blues to reggae, Celtic to bush music. He has been touring and collecting music from different countries for over 20 years, blending it together with his own original music in a uniquely Australian style which uses instruments such as guitar, didgeridoo, harmonicas, foot percussion and vocals.  Rhys is an engaging performer who thrives on making a special connection between himself and the audience.  “A singer-songwriter on the cusp of roots music glory” – Matt Neal – The Standard

The Trenwiths

The Trenwiths are three generations of one musical family. ‘Poppa’ Paul, two sons, Sam and Tim, and grandson Tyler. They play a mix of modern songs, folk songs and trad-bluegrass music. Paul Trenwith is a national treasure of NZ Country Music, received a Queen’s Service Medal for his contributions to Bluegrass in New Zealand, and is one of the few, in any, masters of banjo and bluegrass music in New Zealand.

Two if by Sea

From heart-wrenching airs to furiously fast and joyous melodies, Rachel Johnston and Trent Arkleysmith transport audiences in the space between cellos, deftly picked guitar or mandolin. Classically trained yet playing with a feel only the truest troubadours can, their tunes tell complex stories in a curiously emotional way.

Expect a tasty mix of original and traditional music influenced by Celtic, Scandinavian and Eastern European folk with accents of Bluegrass and “new acoustic” music.

Standby for further announcements …

About our the special 60th anniversary performances, the workshop, dance, and youth and young performers programmes, and the opening of ticket sales…

Wellyfest – notice of 2025 AGM

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Wellyfest – AGM Sunday 23 March 2 pm 

Sprig and Fern, 342 Tinakori Rd, Thorndon.

Kia ora whanau

The AGM will be held on Sunday 23rd March.

Location : Sprig and Fern 342 Tinakori Rd, Thorndon.

Kicking off at 2 pm.

We will also be setting up a zoom call for those that cannot attend in person

Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84558659844?pwd=xMvWDSSPabtKYQZK8UmGf7959rPevN.1

Meeting ID: 845 5865 9844

Passcode: 379109

Calling Nominees

Would you like to share your voice and mahi on our Committee this year, or to nominate someone to do so?

Nominations can be made (and accepted) at the meeting, or you can drop us a message to secretarywff@gmail.com either indicating your interest or nominating someone.

Nominees for Committee need to agree to accept a nomination. If the nominee cannot attend the AGM, we will need their agreement to be nominated in writing and in advance.

To vote at the meeting you need to have paid the annual membership subscription ($1). Subs can be paid on the day at the meeting – preferably in cash. If you are not able to physically attend the meeting but wish be or remain a member you can pay by electronic transfer to 03-1537-0013906-00 with your name in the “particulars”, and “sub2025” as the reference.

Collaboration

Would you like to help out, but the idea of formal committee commitment doesn’t work for you?

We are also looking for folk who are willing to help out with planning, publicity, organisational or administrative tasks on the working groups during the year. There are many areas where you might offer your skills, special talent and magic powers!

Do you have an interest in areas such as, communication and marketing, managing and organising people tasks and rosters, project co-ordination, graphic design , music management, Website and IT skills, or are you an admin junkie? Would you like to help on the Youth Gathering? Drop us a line to secretarywff@gmail.com .

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Nga mihi

Don Mackay, Secretary

Notice of Annual General Meeting – Wellington Regional Folk Foundation Inc

Date and time: Sunday, 23 March 2025, 2pm

Where: Sprig and Fern 342 Tinakori Rd, Thorndon.

or by zoom:

Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84558659844?pwd=xMvWDSSPabtKYQZK8UmGf7959rPevN.1

Topic: Wellington Regional Folk Foundation AGM

Time: Mar 24, 2024 02:00 PM Auckland, Wellington

Meeting ID: 845 5865 9844

Passcode: 379109


AGENDA

1. Present

2. Apologies

3. Minutes of the 2024 AGM

4. Matters Arising (not covered elsewhere in the agenda)

5. President’s report

6. 2024 Performance Report including Annual Financial Statements

7. Election of the committee:

a. President

b. Treasurer

c. Secretary

d. Committee members (up to 7)

8. Appointment of the Reviewer

9. Setting of the subscription

10. General business

Please note that if you wish to nominate someone for a committee role who is NOT able to be present at the meeting, you will need to bring with you written confirmation (an email will do) of their willingness to stand, or to have let us know in advance.

WellyFest guest applications 2025

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Update: Applications to perform at the 2025 festival closed on 2 March 2025. Negotiations with selected performers are now under way.

We will start announcing the headline festival guests by early June.

We need great talent to perform, host workshops and lead our dance programme for the 2025 Wellington Folk Festival. If you’d like to be in the programme in any of these capacities (or know people who might), here is a link to our online application form:

Guest applications for the 2025 Festival (24 -27 October 2025)

Applications now close at midnight on Sunday 2 March. (Note that the date has been extended.)

Feel free to forward this link to your friends or anyone you’d like to see on our guest list. Applications are encouraged in any of these areas:

  • Concerts or other performance
  • Dance in a variety of traditional and modern styles
  • Workshops on dance, musicianship, performance, specific instruments, cultural and historic influences and evolution of folk music and dance
  • Learning (and fun) activities for kids

The application form has specific guidance on how to put together your application. It’s important to complete the form in full so we have a consistent basis for comparing potential guests and preparing a rough programme.

We expect to be in contact with shortlisted guests by the end of April.