It's A Wrap! The Woodford Folk Festival Tells It Like It Was

• Woodfordia’ becomes the 67th largest town in Australia

This year’s Woodford Folk Festival has been described by Festival Director Bill Hauritz as “certainly one of our best”. An aggregate audience of 118,500 (up 5% from last year) streamed through the gates over the six days to experience all that Woodford had to offer. During the festival period ‘Woodfordia’ became the 67th largest town in Australia as a result.

Festival Director Bill Hauritz said that the 5% growth was a direct result of the strong marketing investment made by Tourism and Events Queensland. "We are really pleased with the festival results and have been receiving wonderful feedback from patrons and performers alike since the festival.”

The festival’s impact on the Queensland economy will be up from 2012/13. It is estimated that the Festival will generate a $17million economic impact to the region over the Christmas to New Year period. According to Hauritz,“We think more than a third of our visitors will have come from interstate and probably 3% from overseas. It feels great to be playing a responsible role in the economy” he said.

“While we’re pleased with the economic outcomes, it’s the cultural contribution of the festival that is our prime objective. The festival is like a small boat with a large wake” he said. “It contributes to a large scale promotion and participation in arts and cultural development generally and to the careers of many quality artists, said Hauritz.

Festival patrons experienced delicious food from 51 food stalls, quenched their thirst with a variety of drinks from 13 bars, and watched 1239 shows by 441 acts at 28 venues.

The Figures:

• 1 = number of couples who got married at the Festival on New Years Eve
• 13.5 = number of km’s of hessian fencing
• 33.2 = number of km’s of drink tickets purchased
• 326.7 = height in meters that all the kegs used at the festival would stand if stacked… taller than the Eiffel Tower!
• 570 = minutes of organization that went into the 3 minutes of silence on NY Eve
• 575 = m2 of corflute (70% recycled) to make 1, 000 signs
• 1, 800 = number of hand written letters submitted to be delivered by the Lettering House (Woodford’s very own letter delivery service)
• 2,826 = total number of artists who performed or presented at the festival during the week
• 3, 519 = number of km’s of toilet paper - enough to run from Woodford to Melbourne… and back!
• 5, 266 = number of applications to volunteer at the Festival
• 20, 800 = number of cable ties used throughout the Festival
• 113, 904 = number of apples to make all the cider consumed during the festival
• 7 million = litres of water used
• 8 million = litres of sewerage treated on site.

It’s not only the patrons that had a blast at this year’s festival. Beth Orton, a Woodford first timer loved the festival so much that she vowed to return this year with her full band.

Festival darling Thelma Plum expressed her feelings on Woodford to her Instagram followers on New Years Eve posting a photo of the sea of candles during the 3 minutes silence with the caption “Woodford I love you”.

Clare Bowditch also took to social media to share her feelings on this year’s festival writing on her facebook, “Woodford, you were AMAZING! Still on a high.”

Brendan Maclean, another Woodford first timer (and in fact, his first time ever performing at a festival), was wowed by what he experienced over the duration of the festival and summed it up perfectly. "I couldn't love this festival any more… I didn't expect to meet all the international artists and have them watch my show and I watch all their shows. That was really cool, that was really special. Woodford is a big family and it's lovely to be a part of it, even if I am just a detached cousin or something!"

Tickets for the 2014/15 Woodford Folk Festival go on sale mid-April from www.woodfordfolkfestival.com – get in early for early bird rates.

For images from the 2013/14 festival so far check out our Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodfordfolkfestival/sets/