Port Fairy Folk Festival breaks with tradition - 2 day tickets for the first time @ 2020 festival

AUGUST 10th Warrnambool Standard 10th August 2019


TRADITION has been broken at the Port Fairy Folk Festival with two-day tickets to be offered for the first time. In past years, including 2019, it has only been possible to purchase four-day tickets, with the festival running from the Friday to Monday. Port Fairy Folk Festival ticketing manager Shane Lenehan said the half-festival pass would be available for Friday/Saturday or Sunday/Monday.
He said the half-festival tickets would suit those unable to make the whole four days. "The Port Fairy Folk Festival Committee are absolutely thrilled to be announcing a change in available ticket type for the first time in over 40 years of this magnificent event," Mr Lenehan said. "We have listened to the feedback from our guests and our local supporters and are really happy to now offer a half-festival pass. "We have no doubt these half-festival passes will be snapped up very quickly. We also encourage those who can commit to the full weekend to secure their passes early too." He said he had considered the introduction of half-festival passes over the five years he had been ticketing manager. "One of the main reasons we haven't been able to do it before is that we are limited by how many people we can have in the venue," he said. "We had an issue with overcrowding when we had big name acts on. So we are now trying to get every artist to play a minimum of two shows and it certainly helps with the overcrowding issue. We've decided that we don't want to sell any m ore tickets. We have made some changes and decided bigger is not better for the Folkie. "We will stick to our strengths with plenty of stages and acts but with a more intimate feel. Also with natural progression in sales we have a few hundred less adult tickets that we sold last year. The reality is like every festival there is a lot more competition and we have to provide what is special to us. Last year there was a great feel within the festival." He said previously the festival could have 11,500 adult tickets and then a few more thousand people in the festival grounds with child and youth tickets, stallholders, volunteers, committee and performers. "The numbers got tot he point where it was too many," he said. "It's more comfortable with a few less. We don't want to do just day tickets." He said the half-festival tickets would appeal to south-west residents who may have work or sporting commitments and could only make the Folkie on certain days. "Melbourne people will still get the full festival pass," he said. He said there would be limited half-festival passes, with less than 1000 on sale. "They will be cheaper than a full-weekend pass," he said. "They are really well priced and good value for money." The 2020 festival will be held on the weekend March 6-9. Tickets go on sale on September 2.The first artist announcement for the 2020 festival will take place on August 26.