Description
Cygnet Folk Festival did not disappoint
by Cathy Hutchinson – Courtesy Drumbeat
TN169 Mar 25
There were many happy campers who settled into life at Burton’s Reserve for the Cygnet Folk Festival in southern Tasmania.
On Saturday morning, after a lovely hot shower, and perhaps a cooked breakfast, courtesy of the local Scouts, tent residents on waterfront real estate found themselves bird watching as a multitude of Black Swans, Masked Lapwings and Native Hens and their chicks went about their daily hunting and gathering along the foreshore.
The sun was very warm early.
Occasional Black Cockatoos were heard squawking as they flew overhead.
At the Town Hall, the dance program began with the Jolly Hatters Morris Dancing, followed by the Tasmanian Heritage Fiddle Ensemble’s Bush Dance and a Flat Footing workshop with Martha Spencer from the US.
The Tasmanian Heritage Fiddle Ensemble played a varied repertoire of tunes outdoors at the Cygnet Old Bank, flowing off the stage on both sides.
Entertainment abounded in Loongana Park, from the Sands’ family juggling, hula hooping to performers on the stage playing to constant crowds mingling in the shade enjoying food from the stalls and the ambience.
I have always loved the generosity of the festival providing performers and the Loongana Park stage.
Jaron Freeman-Fox taught an Old Time tune, Halifax, re-tuning to GDGD in the Old Time tradition.
If I had not met so many passersby whilst standing in the food line, I would not have waited over an hour for food which ran out just as I got to the head of the queue.
I was very hungry and lamented the concerts I had missed and was equally disappointed when another food vendor forgot my order and took a further half an hour and three tries to find out what was happening with it to eventually produce a small meal.
It was on to more dancing at St Marks Hall followed by two more late night dances at the Town Hall.
As I was moving between the two, I caught the tail end of the captivating Northern Lights concert with Silver Sepp and Kristiina Ehin from Estonia.
The Interceltic Ceili with Mana Okubu and Tim Scanlan was invigorating and exciting.
Crowds of energetic dancers danced with enthusiasm and vigour!
Amaidi played for a Trad Dance Party with the most excellent music and dance rhythms to end the night.
However, being programmed at the same time as Austral, Elephant Sessions and Homebru, meant that the dance crowd was smaller, but their wonderful enthusiasm did do justice to the fantastic music and effort Amaidi put into the gig.
The township was so quiet, after leaving the Town Hall, with none of the constant traffic, heat, rush and bustle of the day.
I chanced upon a beautiful little session outside the Porthole Café, which was a lovely way to end the day.
It began as an Old Time session and gradually morphed into more of an Irish session with some very fun Scottish tunes thrown in.
It was a melting pot for sessioners, including performers, in the cool, velvety air, creating the only sounds in the stillness.
When I left, at a late hour, it was refreshing not to be confronted with the drunken cat calls from behind the security fences of the Bottom Pub, or the loud brash counter culture next door.
The moon, high in the sky by then, lit the way back to my tent home.
Smiling to myself, I mused how lucky I was to be able to participate and contribute to this wonderful event, being careful not to trip on the guy ropes which seemed to have formed a web in the shadows around the campsite.
A late night warm shower had me all set up to fall asleep in the tent, with visions of the day, friends old and new, concerts, tunes and dances running through my head as I drifted off to sleep between the hum of the nearby cool store refrigeration unit and the stark call of a Masked Lapwing out over the mud flats.
And that was just day one!
I n the words of the festival’s Artistic Director, Erin Collins, the program said Welcome to “Future Folk” and at the final concert of the Festival, Erin said that they were looking at the future of Folk.
So true, and it’s very inspiring to see so many young, vibrant, energetic and highly skilled performers on the stage.
They stand highly regarded alongside many long time performers who have sometimes influenced them, paved their way, and who are still honing their skills and creating, enriching and weaving, the colourful, textured tapestry of folk traditions.
Thank you to Erin Collins, the Cygnet Folk Festival committee, staff, volunteers, and all the performers who created the festival for 2025.
Whilst many Folk Festivals face an uncertain future, this one was a gem and may there be many more to follow.
It was good to experience the wonderful program, imagined, shaped and tweaked over many months, from the applications received early in 2024!
Folk performers came from Scotland, Canada, Estonia and many more places, with a large number of Australian performers, both local and interstate.
It was an amazing festival of varied quiet and sensitive performances, to upbeat tempos, dance rhythms, a place of learning new skills, poetry, spoken word and song.
Thank you to the local Scouts and the Cygnet community for having us as guests in your town.
Cygnet to focus on the future of folk
by Erin Collins
TN167 Dec 24
Cygnet Folk Festival presents Future Folk.
A focus on our future.
Future Folk also refers to our dream to stay relevant into the future with a well managed event that is relevant to the diversity of our wonderful audiences, from trad to contemporary, from kids to their grandparents and from listeners to dancers and workshop participants.
Also expect to see the young, talented musicians of the future gracing our stages, a stronger focus on bringing you a family friendly event with activities for kids, and our ever-wonderful world class acts for all.
Festival 2025 will have 10 stages jam packed with concerts from our 80 plus festival acts.
Some 400 individual artists will tread the boards over the weekend, in over 300 programmed concerts.
Experience what the Future of Folk looks like.
In 2025, we’ll feature Youth Blackboard concerts in Loongana Park on Saturday and Sunday and present a special youth concert on the main stage of the Festival Green.
The Folk Alliance Australia Youth Showcase and Awards will again be showcased on Sunday afternoon.
Don’t miss Apolline and Homebru teaming up to perform a special concert for us and we feature Folk Alliance’s “Young Performer of the Year’, Felicity Dowd, alongside Cygnet’s youth award winners and many more.
Who are our featured acts?
Well, all of them really!!
Extraordinarily diverse and utterly fabulous artists are heading to Cygnet in January!
You can dance the night away to Elephant Sessions, Austral, The High Street Drifters, Tim Scanlon and Manuka Okubu, La Mauvaise Reputation, Formidable Vegetable or Amaidi.
Be bathed in songs from The Spooky Men, Gaumarjos The Cygnet Song Circle, The Clemtines and Little Boat choirs.
Be enchanted by the wonderful Stiff Gins, Hat Fitz and Cara, Ernest Aines, Pete Cornelius, Miss Eileen and King Lear and so, so many more.
What a weekend we have in store!
You can see a list of all our artists via the link on our homepage at www.cygnetfolkfestival.org and the full schedule is available online.
This year, our dedicated Kids’ Space is moving to Festival Green, a fully fenced outside area with lots of shade and room to play.
There will be kid’s workshops, entertainment and activities from 9am – 3pm, Saturday and Sunday.
Food and drink stalls are conveniently close by for parents, and family friendly entertainment on the main Festival Green stage will run from 10am.
Kids entertainers to look out for include Costa Georgiadis, Bella the Bookworm, Amelie Ecologie, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo!, Formidable Vegetable and more!
Looking to the future for financial and environmental sustainability, we have made the leap to a fully online festival programme.
We recommend that you download the festival program onto your phone before you leave home.
You can then peruse the schedule, and even create your own list of ‘not to be missed’ concerts.
The programme will automatically update with any unforeseen changes, so you will always have the latest and most accurate version right in your pocket.
Future Folk a focus for Cygnet 2025
by Erin Collins
TN166 Oct 24
The 2025 Cygnet Folk Festival, to be held in Tasmania will this time present a Future Folk theme, a focus on our future.
Future Folk also refers to our dream to stay relevant into the future with a well managed event that is relevant to the diversity of our wonderful audiences, from trad to contemporary, from kids to their grandparents, and from listeners to dancers and workshop participants.
Also expect to see the young, talented musicians of the future gracing our stages, a stronger focus on bringing you a family friendly event with activities for kids, and our ever wonderful world class acts for all.
We have 10 stages jam packed with concerts from our 80 plus festival acts.
Some 400 individual artists will tread the boards over the weekend in over 300 programmed concerts.
Experience what the Future of Folk looks like.
From January 10 to 12, 2025, we’ll feature youth blackboard concerts in Loongana Park on Saturday and Sunday, and present a special youth concert on the main stage of the Festival Green.
Folk Alliance Australia Youth Showcase and Awards will again be presented on Sunday afternoon.
Don’t miss Apolline and Homebru teaming up to perform a special concert for us, and we’ll feature Folk Alliance’s ‘Young Performer of the Year’, Felicity Dowd, alongside Cygnet’s youth award winners and many more.
Extraordinarily diverse and utterly fabulous artists are heading to Cygnet in January!
You can dance the night away to Elephant Sessions, Austral, The High Street Drifters, Tim Scanlon and Manuka Okubu, La Mauvaise Reputation, Formidable Vegetable or Amaidi.
Be bathed in songs from The Spooky Men, Gaumarjos, The Cygnet Song Circle, The Clementines and Little Boat choirs.
Be enchanted by the wonderful Stiff Gins, Hat Fitz and Cara, Ernest Aines, Pete Cornelius, Miss Eileen and King Lear and so, so many more.
What a weekend we have in store!
You can see all our artists via the link on our homepage at www.cygnetfolkfestival.org and the full schedule will be online by November 1.
Our dedicated Kids’ Space is moving to Festival Green, a fully fenced outside area with lots of shade and room to play.
There will be kid’s workshops, entertainment and activities from 9am-3pm, Saturday and Sunday.
Food and drink stalls are conveniently close by for parents, and family friendly entertainment on the main Festival Green stage will run from 10am.
Kids’ entertainers to look out for include Costa Georgiadis, Bella the Bookworm, Amelie Ecologie, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo!, Formidable Vegetable and more!
Looking to the future of financial and environmental sustainability, we have made the leap to a fully online festival programme.
We recommend that you download the festival program onto your phone before you leave home.
You can then peruse the schedule, and even create your own list of ‘not to be missed’ concerts.
The programme will automatically update with any unforeseen changes, so you will always have the latest and most accurate version right in your pocket.
The programme includes all the usual information: full act descriptions; festival info; map; parking directions; and, of course, the full schedule.
Organisers share their views on recent festival
TN157 Aug 23
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Festival organisers are SO excited to be “back in full swing
by Erin Collins
Published in T&N 152 November 2022
The 2023 Cygnet Folk Festival (Tas) will return in January 2023 for the first full weekend event since January 2020.
Like so many in our music community, we have had over two years of cancelled events and the inevitable disappointment in not only being unable to present a much-loved festival, but the inevitable loss of income for all our beloved musicians and crew who work so hard to make ours and other events happen each year.
Also, as with so many events in regional towns, the festival provides an annual boost to many local businesses who are of course feeling the ripples of the past two years’ pandemic and reduced visitations.
Thankfully, Cygnet has thus far been spared the devastating weather events that have impacted other festivals.
We collaborate with many of these aforementioned businesses and others in the community, such as local schools and churches to produce the festival.
Churches have the BEST acoustics!
The local scouts do an amazing job managing the festival campground, and like so many similar events, we run on the wheels provided by a veritable army of fantastic crew and volunteers.
Tasmania has a proud aboriginal history and stories of survival, and we are honoured by the generosity in which they share their stories, musicianship and culture with us.
We work closely with South East Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation (SETAC) for cultural support and guidance.
In 2023, we will host a couple of very special collaborations with the first nations’ community during the festival.
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Returning to Cygnet stages is the wonderful Frank Yamma, one of Australia’s most significant Indigenous songwriters, with an ability to cross cultural and musical boundaries. An initiated Pitjantjatjara man, Frank sings in his native language and English. His mighty songs, magical guitar playing and deeply evocative voice tell stories of country, protection, heartache, travel and love. |
We’re also bringing Tin Camp Studios to our newly relocated Willie Smiths Paddock.
Tin Camp Studios is the brainchild of Warren Mason and provides a safe and welcoming space for unique music and cultural events.
The studios are constructed from salvaged materials and modelled on typical 1950s Aboriginal housing that could be found on the fringe of countless Australian townships.
For the first time, we’ll be offering day tickets to this one outdoor space, with access to the Willie Smith’s marquee and Tin Camp Studios, both with a whole weekend of amazing music and other events as well as food and drink and roving performances.
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We will also be showcasing “Brothers of Country”: A band of brothers from across Tasmania, Australia and the World. Raw, earthy sounds of the Tasmanian bush from Elder Songman, Dougie Mansell, singer and drummer Mwase Makalani, Yao and Chichewa man from Malawi, Yorta Yorta and Yuwaalaraay man, Warren Mason, Tasmanian born Yorta Yorta man First Nations producer and musician, Josh Langford, Tasmanian Aboriginal pakana traditional dancer, Harley Mansell, walker and keeper of stories, Sean Mansell, and Adelaide born cultural magpie, Matthew Fargher. |
Ours is one of the most popular and long-lived events of the Tasmanian summer calendar having just, with a significantly smaller event than we’d hoped for, celebrated 40 years!
In 2023, as we celebrate the opening of international borders, we welcome back to Cygnet, The Paul McKenna Band from Glasgow, touring for the Festival of Small Halls with the wonderfully enigmatic Emily Lubitz.
In Tasmania for their first visit, will be The Jellyman’s Daughter from Edinburgh.
We’re also very excited to bring to Cygnet the extraordinary voice and protest songs from Grace Petrie from Leicester.
From over the ditch (AKA NZ), we’ll showcase the beautiful voice and playing of Holly Arrowsmith, duo, Looking for Alaska, and welcome back festival darlings, Albi and the Wolves.
Performer highlights of the weekend from around Australia are Pitjantjatjara man, Frank Yamma, Tibetan singing and playing from Tenzin Choegyal, and always remarkable songs and stories from folk icon, Eric Bogle.
From NSW, Austral are making a name for themselves around the festival circuit.
We’ll hear Sephardic and Sevdah songs from Saray Illuminado, a unique take on Aussie songs from Bush Gothic and remarkable duo harmonies from Lior and Domini, We Mavericks and Charm of Finches.
Returning to Cygnet will be Lithuanian singers and dancers, The Lost Clog, festival favourites Fred Smith, the award-winning Michael Waugh, David Bridie, Lucy Wise, Liam Gerner with Luke Moller, Ruth Roshan and Tango Noir and many more.
Other Aussie legends include Bill Jackson, Tiffany Eckhardt, Michael Fix with Mark Cryle, Ruth Hazleton, our own Meyers and McNamara, Peter Hicks, and The New Holland Honey Eaters, the namesakes of whom have been prevalent in my Spring Garden.
There will of course be workshops and masterclasses, some very special themed performances, including Fred Smith’s “Sparrows of Kabul”, Liam Gerner and Luke Moller’s take on Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson in “The Bulletin Debate”, Bruce Watson’s “The Man, the woman and the Edison Phonograph”-the story of Fanny Cochran Smith recording with Bruce’s ancestor, and John Hickey’s “The Young Irelanders in Van Diemans Land” to mention but a few.
The dance programme will run in a couple of venues over the weekend and will feature the best of both local and interstate acts with some great callers to teach those steps.
We’ll also be presenting some world class circus from ROOKE with their family friendly show, “Tony’s Imaginary Circus”, as well as pop up performances and workshops from the equally talented and seemingly ever multiplying Sands Family Circus.
Like so many folk festivals around the country, ours is a showcase of eclectic music genres featuring both Australian and international musicians, dance, poetry, masterclasses, kids’ entertainment, food, wine, art and local handicrafts.
Cygnet folk Festival is set in the breathtaking scenery of Tasmania’s Huon Valley; and summer in Tasmania and the Huon Valley in particular, shouts cherry, apricot and berry season.
If you’re driving down to Cygnet from Hobart, there’s a plethora of roadside stalls to satisfy your summer fruit cravings.
Finally, we are thrilled to announce that five of the eight award winners at the recent Australian Folk Music Awards through Folk Alliance Australia presented on October 26 will be performing at Cygnet Folk Festival next January.
So come see these and many more fantastic acts in Cygnet in January.
We are SO excited to be “back in full swing!”
The full performer line-up and tickets at www.cygnetfolkfestival.org
