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Special announcement!

Monday 8th May 2023

Kia ora folk community and Whare Flat Folk Festival enthusiasts. Thank you to all who attended our recent festival. It was terrific to get the festival underway again after a temporary hiatus. Despite a few challenges, the festival certainly delivered the famous Whare Flat vibe: that sense of community. I’ve been reflecting on this as we’ve been preparing in the background for the next one, working on budgets and seeking financial support as we do each year. The theme we keep coming back to is participation. We don’t have an audience so much as participants. You’ll have seen pictures like the one above, images that really capture the essence of what the festival is about. Participation comes in many guises; performing as an artist, running a dance workshop, working on the festival team or that very important role of buying a ticket and turning up for four days of music-related fun. I know the organising committee agrees with me that it’s the festival magic that keeps us coming back and putting in the volunteer hours to make it happen.

We are very excited to be launching this new website including our official ‘call for artists’. We are seeking a broad representation of folk music styles and instrumentation to help us create another fabulous festival experience for 2023/24

We’d love to hear from you

Stephen Stedman, Festival Director

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