A WA folk music festival will resurrect in Fremantle after lagging ticket sales and increased production costs forced its cancellation in Pinjarra.
Fairbridge Festival organisers made the call this month to abandon the event for the third year in a row and FolkWorld Inc president Jane Aberdeen told the Mandurah Times the decision was heartbreaking.
“We waited until the last moment we could to make the decision,” she said.
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READ NOW“However, large-scale events like this take a lot of financial and people resources to happen and we needed a higher number of ticket sales and a higher number of volunteers by this point in time in order for us to proceed responsibly.
But an iteration of the long-held WA favourite will now be showcased in Perth’s southern suburbs next month.
The festival’s artistic director Jon Cope announced his independent management company Kaleidoscope Multicultural Arts would throw a showcase with part of the original lineup at the Fremantle Arts Centre on April 7.
Amidst significant cancellations within the music industry, Mr Cope told PerthNow the Fremantle lineup offered a “glimmer of hope” to revellers.
“After several festival cancellations following the COVID year, it’s been a very hard environment for festivals economically.
“So this showcase offers a glimmer of hope for people looking to access high quality, folk world music.”
Fairbridge Festival has been running since 1993 and was planned for April 5 to 7 at Pinjarra’s Edenvale Heritage Precinct, the first time it was to run outside of Fairbridge Village since inception.
Mr Cope said the Fremantle event would offer international and interstate acts to perform, who had been booked for Fairbridge itself.
“This show is a showcase of some of the top international acts that are touring to Western Australia in April,” he said.
“Everybody’s excited that there’s some sort of positive outcome coming out of a disappointing situation.”
The event will see quartet Himmerland descend to the Fremantle stage, with its member ranging from Danish Eskil Romme on the soprano sax to Scottish Donald Hay on the drums.
Canadian duo Gordie Tentrees and Jaxon Haldane will also bring their acoustics to the port city, while poet Peter Capp has planned a “folklore bush ballad” about the festival’s own 30-year history for audiences.
Tickets are $55 for adults and $25 for youth and can be purchased via the Fremantle Arts Centre website.
Fairbridge Festival organisers remain hopeful the event can return to its usual location in 2025.