Hinterland Grapevine - Maleny Folk Festival

The Woodford Folk Festival wraps up another successful year.   One remembers the heady days in 1987 when about 900 people headed to Maleny for a music festival different to any other seen on the Sunshine Coast.

Having been there in the initial preparation stage one remembers the passion that Festival organiser, Bill Hauritz showed when he was selling it to community organisations in the Maleny area.

The Maleny Showgrounds became home to the inaugural Maleny Folk Festival.   Next year will be the 25th birthday for the festival.

That first festival saw less than 1000 people attend, a big change from 2009 when it is estimated that over 120,000 people passed through the gates of the now permanent home of the festival at Woodford.

Bill Hauritz now jokes that the festival has more volunteers than the total visitors who attended the first festival.   In 2009 the festival was run by some 2300 volunteers and 25 paid staff.

Over the years the festival has hosted some of the biggest names in the Australian entertainment field as artists, dancers, musicians, speakers, poets and street performers.

Patrons over the years have had to put up with driving rain, extreme dry and hot conditions, but they always take it in their stride.

Over the years many community organisations have relied on the festival as an income producing event by providing services.   Local businesses benefited from the extra income produced by the crowds that attended.

Much of this has now been lost to Maleny, but gained by Woodford.

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Last Updated ( Saturday, 02 January 2010 )

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