Dear Port Fairy Folk Festival Friend,
It gives us great pleasure to introduce you to The Unusual Commoners. On a stone walled street corner in Oxford, England in 2016, three musicians were trying their hand at a newly learnt folk music repertoire. Busking in the late afternoon breeze, crowds came and went when a stately couple walked past and said aloud of the musicians, “what an unusual bunch of commoners” and on the fateful day The Unusual Commoners were born.
Featuring Anthony Field, Emma Watkins and Lachlan Gillespie from The Wiggles alongside Oliver Brian and David O’Reilly, The Unusual Commoners play the music of The Clancy Brothers, The Pogues, The Corries, Neil Diamond, John Williamson, John Denver and traditional folk music. From sold out gigs in Newfoundland playing alongside Alan Doyle to playing gigs across Australia raising money for Soldier On, The Unusual Commoners are thrilled to playing for you here at Port Fairy Folk Festival. A special part of their appearance will be a brilliant collaborative concert with The East Pointers.
…. And while we are talking collaborations we are proud to be presenting Other Voices, lead by Canadian poet Bob Jensen, his poetry will be put to music by a stellar line up of our feature artists and they are: The East Pointers, Hubert Francis, Shane Howard and Tony McManus. A special guest will also be didgeridoo player Paul Kelly.
Spoken word and the writers program is a much loved tradition of our festival. Once again we welcome Jim Haynes who will be joined by Di Jackson Hill, Maggie Somerville, Maya Linnell, Mick Coventry, Stephen Whiteside and Artist and Illustrator Craig Smith. From The Aussie Morning Show to The Magic of Children’s Literature, workshops, panels. launches, The Pat Glover Award, and Jeff Lang will also be launching his highly anticipated book - there is something for all lovers of the spoken and written word. We are also delighted to have former Pat Glover Award recipient and roving poet Gordon Phillips-Ross as a part of the festival who will pop up and delight you when you least expect it!
A list of available accommodation is now on our website. Click here.
Warmest regards,
The Program Team. x
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