"Folkie" popularity sees tickets sell out in hours

Warrnambool Standard 3rd Nov. 1998 - ©Copyright Warrnambool Standard 1998. All rights reserved.

If you haven't already got a ticket to next year's Port Fairy Folk Festival, it looks like you've missed out. It took only a few hours for the 500 tickets to be snatched up after the Port Fairy newsagency began selling tickets at 9 am yesterday. Ticketing manager John Ploenges said that the dale was a record for the festival and likened its popularity to big-name concerts in Melbourne. "I think people now no longer have to look at what artists we're having but they're assured the quality of the program is there" he said. The remainder of the tickets would be sold through the mail, with Mr. Ploenges estimating all of those would be accounted for. Last year tickets sold out in eight days, while in previous years it had taken four weeks for them to sell, Mr. Ploenges said. While the record sale time was an indication of the festival's growing popularity, Mr. Ploenges said there were no plans to expand it in terms of size. "It's a successful formula and we want to stick to it", he said of the festival's low key atmosphere. South-west artists scheduled to play include Its Your Thing, Slap N the Cats, Finn Mac Cool Ceili and Tukan Sam. The line-up will also include Geraldine Doyle, Eric Bogle, Vika and Linda, John Williamson, Jeannie Lewis, The Black Sorrows, The Bushwackers and Sirocco. The festival takes place on the Labor Day weekend, March 5 to 8.