Woodford Folk Festival Asks Punters For Help, Details 'Concerning' Ticket Sales
Ball Park Music, King Stingray, Tia Gostelow, and Baker Boy will headline the upcoming festival.
Woodford Folk Festival (Source: Supplied)
Woodford Folk Festival organisers need your help to survive another year in a difficult climate for music festivals.
Sharing a statement, the festival’s Director, Amanda Jackes, Woodfordia President Lachlan Brown, and Founder Bill Hauritz AM detailed the challenging times Woodford is facing.
“These are challenging times, and like many of you, we’re struggling,” they said. “We feel it’s important to let you know how we’re doing, and to update you on a concerning current state of ticket sales.”
Revealing that the festival is currently 15% down in pre-sales, the team shared that if that trend in pre-sales continues over the next few weeks, “the shortfall will threaten the festival’s future.”
“Despite rising event costs, we’ve worked hard to keep core ticket price increases to a minimum,” the statement continued.
Adding that adult day tickets have only increased by 8% (from $130 to $140), and adult season camping tickets have increased by 4% (from $647 to $672) in the last six years; the Woodford team are hoping that punters remember that this year’s programme was “enthusiastically received” and “one of the strongest we’ve put together.”
Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter
Ball Park Music, King Stingray, Tia Gostelow, and Baker Boy will headline the 2024/25 edition of the upcoming festival. 450 artists will perform across six days (27 December 2024 – 1 January 2025), including Yothu Yindi, Beccy Cole, Dan Sultan, Bic Runga, Ngaiire, Alex The Astronaut, Jaguar Jonze, The Joy, JDFR, Josh Pyke, Ash Grunwald, Husky, Elephant Sessions, Digging Roots, Ysé, AURUS, Amanda Rheume, Aysanabee, and Tjaka.
“We know interest rates and inflation are high, and the cost of living is affecting most of us,” the Woodford team said. “But we have a truly wonderful programme this year, and we believe the festival still offers the best value for families and individuals seeking a time to unwind, reconnect and prepare for the year ahead.”
Reminding punters that “this serious predicament did not just come out of the blue,” Woodford organisers reflected on the last six years, which have seen the event weather “numerous existential challenges beyond our control.”
The statement continued, “The pandemic wiped out our festivals for two years, leaving many artists and arts workers with little or no work. Bringing the land back to host our community festival safely proved much harder and more expensive than we ever anticipated.
“After the pandemic, costs to stage the festival surged by up to 40%. We had to rebuild our team and nurture the organisation back to being a large-scale festival producer. We made it through then with your support. Just.
“We still remember asking our team in 2022 if we should bring the festival back that year. The passion and commitment of our organisers that May was truly memorable. The overwhelming response from you, our patrons, when you bought tickets early and returned to Woodfordia for WFF 22/23, was one of the best moments in our community’s history.
“Perhaps that success made us a little too confident that we’d weathered the worst and could move forward with optimism.”
Launching into the 23/24 festival after a successful 2022 event, strong planning and ticket sales couldn’t help a national crisis of cancelled festivals or a cyclone in November bringing “challenging weather” through December. Due to those factors, Woodford 23/24 was affected by lower attendance, which led to a “financially devastating result.”
After receiving support from the State Government, the Queensland-based festival organisers “worked hard to ensure that this year’s festival will be a time of goodwill, kindness, courage, and joy—a bridge of renewal as we transition from one year to the next. It’s a chance to leave behind some burdens from the past and enter the new year with a sense of wonder and possibility.”
Admitting that asking for help is “never easy,” Jackes, Brown, and Hauritz thanked punters for reading and considering their request, signing off with the hope that people support Woodford this year. “We truly need you,” they said.
Head to Woodford Folk Festival's website to check out the extensive programme and purchase tickets. Afterpay is available for punters looking to pay for tickets over four instalments in six weeks.
More From Our Network
