Port Fairy Folk Festival: First artist lineup, how to buy tickets, and all you need to know

Port Fairy Folk Festival will be back next year, with the 2024 festival edition scheduled to be held from March 8, 2024, to March 11, 2024, at Port Fairy City in Victoria, Australia. The festival will complete its 46th year of existence, with the first edition held in December 1977.

The 2024 edition of the festival, which will feature artists such as Graham Nash, Gaby Moreno, Gnoss, and more, was announced via a post on the official Instagram page of the festival.

Early Bird Tickets for the festival are currently on sale and are priced at $353.51 for adults and $154.71 for youth categories, inclusive of all fees. Tickets for general admission and other categories will only be available when Early Bird tickets are exhausted. All tickets can be found at the Port Fairy Folk Festival website.

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Graham Nash declared first headliner of the Port Fairy Folk Festival

Port Fairy Folk Festival organizers revealed their first lineup early on September 10, 2023. Among the acts was folk and country legend Graham Nash, who is the headliner in the first lineup revealed yesterday.

The singer's appearance will mark the beginning of a tour across Oceania for him and a big boost for the festival, as the festival's Program Director Justin Rudge stated in an exclusive interview with Forte magazine:

"We are honoured to have icons such as Graham Bash perform at our festival. Our audiences will be drawn to his storytelling and song which I am sure can be found in many record collections around the world."

The director continued:

"This first lineup represents contemporary and classic folk as told through some of the greatest singer-songwriters of today and we are so excited to be sharing this music with music lovers and the community of Port Fairy."

The full first lineup for the Port Fairy Folk Festival is given below:

• Gnoss
• Graham Nash
• Lorraine Nash
• Alice Skye
• Cam Cole
• Daoiri Farrell
• Sarah Blasko
• Sons of the East
• Gaby Moreno
• Gangar
• Quote The Raven
• The Songbirds
• Teho

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Port Fairy Folk Festival began in December 1977

The Port Fairy Folk Festival was conceptualized as a celebration and exploration of traditional music and culture, in particular that of Australia and Ireland, respectively. The festival was founded and held by Jamie McKew, along with folk performers from Melbourne and Geelong. The festival began on December 2, 1977.

The founding principle of the festival was social justice and community, as stated by McKew in an exclusive interview with The Weekly Times:

"Folk songs were socially significant, they had meaning to them. The songs were fun, but they also had a purpose. I wasn’t marching on the streets, but I’d always had a strong sense of social justice."

After the success of the first few editions, the festival shifted its aim to acoustic and roots music from around the world, in what would become a regular shifting of themes to match the times trend for the festival. The festival, however, kept its theme of folk music, as Caroline Moore, program director of the festival, stated in an exclusive interview with Beat magazine on September 20, 2019:

"It’s music and storytelling that reflects the culture of the person who’s composing and or performing it. Blues music is really folk music, bluegrass is folk music. It’s something that resonates with a rich history that actually displays and gives you the opportunity to learn about that culture."

Previous editions of the Port Fairy Folk Festival have included artists such as Eric Bogle, Zulya Kamalova, Ani Di Franco, Kavisha Mazella, and Christine Anu, among others.