On-line ticket sales have now closed. Tickets for the weekend can be purchased at gate on the weekend of the Festival.
Note: If you or someone you are registering for is under 18, you MUST nominate a responsible adult. This person must be on site at the festival before the registered teen or child will be allowed on the festival site and must remain onsite throughout. (Child tickets are for ages 5-12, teen for 13-17 and student 18+ if applicable. Free entry for under 5s.)
Full Weekend – Adult: $190.00
Full Weekend – Concession/Student: $165.00
Full Weekend – Teen: $85.00
Full Weekend – Child: $35.00
Whole day + evening – Child: $15.00
Saturday – Whole day + evening – Adult: $90.00
Saturday – Whole day + evening – Teen: $55.00
Saturday – evening only – Adult: $40.00
Saturday – evening only – Teen: $40.00
Sunday – Whole day + evening – Adult: $100.00
Sunday – Whole day + evening – Teen: $60.00
Sunday – evening only – Adult: $60.00
Sunday – evening only – Teen: $60.00
Door Sales
Friday
Adult evening only (from 3pm): $25.00
Teen evening only (from 3pm): $25.00
Saturday
Adult/Teen Saturday daytime only (to 7pm): $55.00
Adult Saturday evening only (from 5.30pm): $40.00
Teen Saturday evening only (from 5.30pm): $40.00
Sunday
Adult/Teen daytime only (to 7pm): $45.00
Adult evening only (from 5.30pm): $60.00
Teen evening only (from 5.30pm): $60.00
Child Tickets
Child Daytime only (Saturday or Sunday to 7pm): $15.00
Child Evening only (Friday, Saturday or Sunday from 5.30pm): $10.00
We thought if you’re wanting to coordinate with family and friends, having another few days to sort your tickets may be helpful – so we’ll keep early bird pricing open until Friday 6 October.
Tickets are selling well and we’re looking forward to a great Labour weekend – catching up with so many of you and sharing some great music and dance.
We are working on getting the draft programme up over the next few days.
>> This year’s Dance programme is going to have a great range of styles which will include:
Balfolk Aotearoa with Michael Parmenter and Kate Grace – dance workshops and the Folk Ball
Helen Stonehouse will be teaching Irish step dancing and ceilidh plus workshop
Morris dancing this year will be Virgin.
Despite searching for and pricing improved surfaces we still have a concrete surface in the Fletcher Hall, so please do be prepared to wear cushioned soles in the Fletcher Hall for high-impact dance.
>> A new feature of the 2023 festival is the Youth Gathering, featuring a full programme of daytime activities for two age groups, and a dedicated “YG tent” for young folk in the evenings. See the Youth Gathering page under the “Young Folk” tab for details.
We’re thrilled to unveil the much-anticipated guest lineup for the 2023 Wellington Folk Festival!
Mark your calendars for October 20th to 23rd, as we gather once again at the picturesque Brookfield Scout Camp for a celebration of folk music, culture, and community.
After a hiatus of several years, we’re excited to announce the return of overseas guests to our festival. Prepare to be enchanted by the fantastic assembly of international and local artists, all coming together to create an unforgettable experience for folk music enthusiasts of all ages.
New music from Scandinavia across styles, cultures and frontiers! Where ever Himmerland play, they bewitch and spread warmth and happiness amongst people, performing their unique blend of old Danish ballads, whirling fiddle tunes, equilibristic improvisations, and new fascinating music composed and arranged by the band members
Richard Grainger is a singer and songwriter, who captures the richness of the traditions of northern England, in particular his home county of North Yorkshire a region rich with maritime and industrial heritage such as the birth of the railways, James Cook, Shipbuilding, Fishing, Iron & Steel industry and much more.
From a working class and musical family, Richard sings for, and of, the working folk in that region. His songs range from the very serious to the hilarious, from climate change, shipwrecks and war to days out at the seaside, and he’s been described by a BBC presenter as ‘The Folk Singers folk singer’and,’a folk singer in the truest sense’
New Zealand’s folk trio “Turkey The Bird” will remind you of the famous Margarita cocktail infused with a hint of “Simon & Garfunkel”, 2 ounces of “Mumford and Sons”, a splash of banjo and served on ice on a sunny day. Catchy folk songs with stunning rich melodies and effortless smooth lyrics. Songs that tell uplifting stories about love and life.
Adam McGrath is a folk singer and yarn spinner stationed wherever he can get a key! Described by RNZ as a “National Treasure” and the Herald as “NZ’s toughest minded songwriter”, Adam is more widely known as lead singer and songwriter with one of NZ’s most loved roots/country bands The Eastern.
His song Hope and Wire was the inspiration behind Gaylene Preston’s TV series of the same name and he is known for his service orientated approach to music in the years since. Described as “maybe part folk singer, part preacher, part boxer, and part rodeo clown he is however all heart”. Raucous, tender, roof and spirit raising a McGrath show goes straight for the spirit level in all of us, looking deep for the good parts and hoping to reach all the thoughtful bits that matter.
Triske are a Celtic group from Wellington. They came together in 2021 around an eclectic range of music. Their original songs are a uniquely Kiwi take on the Celtic sound; they mix these with delicate traditional songs and foot-stomping dance tunes from Ireland, Scotland and Brittany. In 2023 they released their debut EP Flightless, a collection of original and traditional songs.
Hot Diggity is New Zealand’s all-female bluegrass band. They put out a powerful, lively sound with hot instrumentation and tight harmonies. Hot Diggity was formed in 2014, but all five members are veteran musicians having played with numerous other bands in a variety of musical styles for years.
UK born singer songwriter Beans, blends gentle indie folk sounds with a unique lyrical style. Their original songs are rich with humour, honesty and carefully crafted word play, borne of a love of language combined with a vibrant inner world. They gained international acclaim in 2021 as a finalist in the Liverpool International Song Contest, and have since performed at small venues and festivals around Queensland, Australia. A newcomer to Wellington scene, they are making gentle waves in acoustic folk circles.
With a mix of East and West folk spiced up by Romani (gypsy), Mehana fuse the traditional and the modern. They will take you on a music journey from melancholy of Roma violin laments to storming beats of Gypsy rumba, mixing with traditional Balkan rhythms as a blend of influences through time and space. It does not matter that we sing in different languages – songs about love everybody understands.
But wait there is more !
We are in the process of developing the workshop and dance programme and will make further announcements over the coming weeks, including the opening of the early bird registration on Eventfinder.
There is also a brand new youth programme ! Heaps of exciting stuff coming so watch this space!
Call for Volunteers
As with previous years, the festival would not succeed without the invaluable input from volunteers.
If you’d like to get involved
We have a number of volunteer positions available. Dependent on the hours volunteers put in to assisting with festival housekeeping, set up and breakdown the festival will offer a hefty discount or free entry into the festival. The teams and skills we are needing are:
First Aid – Two people with level 2 first aid skills – preferably with ATP
Security and registration – checking and selling tickets, cash and EFTPOS handling, venue ticket checks
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 Sitesafe and working at heights are highly desirable for a few people.
If you’d like more information about any of these opportunities, please send an email to
info@wellingtonfolkfestival.org.nz and we’ll forward to the relevant committee member.
The AGM, held on Sunday 19 March elected a new committee for 2023 under the leadership of new President Tony Burt. The rest of the committee are: Secretary – Don MacKay Treasurer – Sarah Duckworth Committee members – Andrew Bicknell, Ang Kidd-Lingard, Cara Brasted, Gerard Hudson, Merlin Astley-Jones, Sayaka Kirkman, Simon Bishop.
You’ll see many of the 2022 festival committee are continuing and will work alongside new and returning faces. Welcome to Sayaka for her first term on committee, and welcome back to Ang who was President before Gerard Hudson up to 2010.
A huge thanks to the outgoing committee members, Kevin Ikin, Jan Barnes and Ruth Birnie for all your commitment and effort, so pivotal to the ongoing success of Wellyfest. Gerard has stayed on as a committee member so we will continue to benefit greatly from his knowledge and experience.
I look forward to working alongside the committee, crew, volunteers, artists and many others that will bring together a fantastic 2023 Wellyfest.
We are now working through the planning phase towards your 2023 festival. There are exciting guest opportunities but we are still in the decision making phase and will update you as plans are confirmed in coming months.
Planning is full steam ahead for the 2023 Wellington Folk Festival. The committee are already working through guest applications – and we have plenty to choose from.
The next major event is the AGM We have been operating with a full committee in the last year but a few of us are looking to step down this year. We expect to have 3 or more vacancies on the committee and I know we have some new folks interested in accepting nomination.
We have potential nominees for:
President – I’ve decided it’s time to make way for new ideas (and reclaim some flexibility in my life).
2 other committee members (+myself if the AGM would value my involvement for continuity)
Skills we’re looking for in new committee members include:
Jan Barnes – our current secretary has expressed a preference to step down so if anyone wishes to pick up that role (minutes, meeting planning, records management) we’d love to hear from you.
Engagement with the younger music scene – the great stuff that happens outside the “traditional” folk club circuit.
Practical coordination skills to manage the volunteer and/or contracted teams that look after the festival gate, registrations, cash takings, security; and site hygiene.
Nominees for committee need to agree to accept nomination so if the nominee cannot attend the AGM we will need their agreement to be nominated in writing and in advance. Please send nominations (or enquiries or expressions of interest) to me by replying to this email.
To vote at the meeting you need to have paid the annual membership subs ($1). Subs can be paid on the day at the start of the meeting – Preferably in cash.
To provide a safe and accessible AGM we have again elected to use the Cancer Society offices in Ranchhod Tower, central Wellington. Access is from the Terrace and we’ll make sure someone is there with an access card to let you up to our floor.
The Cancer Society Board room has professional videoconferencing equipment so we can hold the meeting by zoom for those out of town or unable to attend in person.
The formal notice follows…
Notice of Annual General Meeting – Wellington Regional Folk Foundation Inc
Date: Sunday, 19 March 2023 Time: 2pm
Where: Cancer Society of New Zealand National Office, L6 – 39 The Terrace, Wellington
or by zoom: Cancer ZOOM Society is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: WRFF Annual General Meeting Time: Mar 19, 2023 02:00 PM Auckland, Wellington
Matters Arising (not covered elsewhere in the agenda)
President’s report
2022 Performance Report including Annual Financial Statements
Election of the committee:
a. President b. Treasurer c. Secretary d. Committee members (up to 7)
Appointment of the Reviewer
Setting of the subscription
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.
1) Guest Applications…. We’re looking to build on the success of the 2022 festival and to do that we need a range of great guests who we will seek to draw from all the genres of our folk community.
If you’re keen – please use this application form to apply. We will close applications on February 4th and then review the applicants. From this we can develop a programme and make invitations to successful applicants. https://form.jotform.com/223181761827863
After two festivals showcasing NZ talent (due to Covid restrictions) we are now open again for overseas applications…. but be aware our homegrown festivals have set a high bar.
2) Committee opportunities at next year’s AGM Finally – as we start the prep for 2023 – some committee members (including myself as president) have indicated they are ready to step down at the next AGM (in late March) to make way for new blood and ideas. If you have an interest in knowing more about being involved, please contact us at info@wellingtonfolkfestival.org.nz . I or one of the committee members will be happy to share info on our committee and work programme.
If you follow Wellington Folk Festival on Facebook you may have already seen this invitation…. this isn’t a separate survey. Here is a link to our feedback form: https://form.jotform.com/223018420438852 Even if you didn’t come to the festival we’d like to know why.
It was great to bring the festival back after the cancellation in 2021. As in 2020, the festival had a great buzz this year. It was so good to reconnect after the covid disruptions. A huge ‘THANK YOU” to everyone involved: performers, audience, vendors, volunteer crew. You are all champions.
If you see anything you recognise, or if you don’t have access to these sites, please email!
Thanks again from all your committee….. now starting the prep for 2023. Some committee members have indicated they might be thinking about stepping down at the 2023 AGM (in late March) to make way for new blood. If you have an interest in knowing more, please email us at info@wellingtonfolkfestival.org.nz
We realised that the usual 30 September early bird close fell yesterday (Friday). We thought if you’re wanting to coordinate with family and friends, having another weekend to sort your tickets may be helpful – so we’ll keep early bird pricing open until late Sunday (tomorrow).
Tickets are selling well and we’re looking forward to a great Labour weekend – catching up with so many of you and sharing some great music and dance
This year’s Dance programme is going to have a great range of styles. However Covids impact on product availability and pricing means despite searching for and pricing improved surfaces we haven’t come up with a way to improve the concrete surface in the Fletcher Hall this year. So please do be prepared to wear cushioned soles in the Fletcher Hall for high impact dance.
Check out the programme draft…There may be some last minute tweaks but you’ll get a good flavour of each day!
