Fairbridge Festival 2021 – Rocking out with the kids.

Every event that goes ahead these days is a triumph. I am feeling incredibly lucky to have attended my second music festival in as many months. Once again, I attended as a volunteer and found the festival very rewarding and loads of fun.

Fairbridge Festival is an institution in Western Australia. In 1992, two committee members of the WA Folk Federation, Max Klubal and Sally Grice, decided to investigate the possibility of a folk festival on the Fairbridge site. In 1993, the first festival was held and the rest, they say, is history. https://www.fairbridgefestival.com.au/about/

In 2020 the festival was cancelled for the first time due to Covid19. Ticket holders were asked to hold onto their tickets and volunteers guaranteed a volunteer position the next year.

My friends and I have been attending Fairbridge Festival for over 20 years. In the early years our children grew up with Fairbridge being an annual event. Loading up children and tents in tiny cars was an art in packing. Marie Kondo would have been impressed. As they became more independent teenagers we would all converge for giant cook-ups in the mornings only to go our separate ways during the day. Showers stopped being a thing and the drive home was always a stinky, dusty experience. Now we go together, mostly without our kids. Adults now, they occasionally make an appearance. In recent years we have all started volunteering and it’s a great way to be part of the festival.

In previous years I had volunteered in the “Woodshed” with the little tikes. The Woodshed is run by Tracey Laird of Perth Kids Shed, who provides workshops for school-aged children. https://perthkidsshed.com.au/pages/about-us Fairbridge’s Woodshed is probably not the destination for you if you have issues with your hearing, your nerves, or you are hungover. 30 plus children all wielding hammers, saws and electric drills! What could possibly go wrong? Each year I worked the Woodshed I would swear I was going to “try something different, next time”. Each year, I would forget the pain and the ringing ears and once again put my hand up for the job. I liken it to childbirth, you must forget the pain over 12 months.

Following the appropriate amount of time required to forget pain I was prepared to assault my ears and senses in 2021. Two years had gone by, which meant I was positively waxing lyrical about “working with the little ones to unlock their creative woodworking potential.” So you can imagine my disappointment when I was informed that the Woodshed would not be running in 2021. I was given the job of “Stage Manager” on the Kaleidoscope Children’s Stage. Two shifts of listening to children’s music and children’s entertainers. A pretty cruisy gig.

The entertainers were all brilliant and I found myself belly-laughing on more than one occasion. The Saturday night kids disco was the place to be. The dance floor was bouncing, and not just with children. Adults YMCA’d, Moved it Moved it and generally had a great time. When Sam the DJ dropped Primal Scream’s Loaded, parents flocked to the dance floor, not a child in sight! It it hadn’t been 7:00 pm and 2021, AND I wasn’t stone cold sober I could have been back on the dance floor of my favourite 90’s club.

My job, as Stage Manager? A piece of cake. I had to make sure the artists had everything they needed, move some chairs around, and occasionally report a lost child or parent. All while looking important with a “walkie talkie” and a clipboard. I think the kids stage was the least stressful of all the Fairbridge stages.

The rest of the festival was brilliant. The acts consisted of mostly local WA artists. Highlights: Seeing my good friend, Leanne get up and perform her own song at the morning jam session in The Loft; Carla Geneve at the Backlot; and a good old Beatles singalong on the last night. It’s great to see that musicians are getting out and gigging again. Its been a tough 12 months for the performing folk. The dust storms followed by torrential rain made it a very muddy affair. But, what is a festival without a bit of mud and dust?

Post Script: When I arrived for my first shift at the kids stage I was surprised to see a Woodshed set up right next to the stage tent. I admit to feeling slightly miffed. Was it something I said/did? Following some investigation, I found out it was a last minute inclusion and the Men’s Shed were running it. From all accounts, I think they found it quite challenging. I predict that I will be back in the Woodshed next year.

To read about volunteering at Nannup Festival – Click here https://www.lisabenjess.org/nannup-music-festival-2021-a-volunteers-view/