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Challenging Festival Full of Magical Moments |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 04 January 2008 |
They met the challenge, worked their socks off, had fun and came up trumps yet again.
Days after the close of the 2007-2008 Woodford Folk Festival, organisers and the huge volunteer force are still celebrating the huge success of the event that had been plagued by wet weather.
Many of them are now working hard on the festival deconstruction – not as much fun and perhaps somewhat sad, but it's a job that has to be done.
A drop of rain has never deterred this determined band of festival folk, and neither did it dampen the spirits of festival-goers who came in record numbers of season campers, and day visitors over the first four days.
Even the renowned Fire Event, the official closing ceremony, was acclaimed as one of the best yet despite its huge cast having to perform in trying conditions. But at Woodford, the show always goes on whatever the challenge and as long as it is safe to do so.
All up, the festival attracted an aggregate audience of 128,000 people over the six days – a figure that pleased the organisers.
"It's a tribute to all the volunteers who worked so hard and stuck through to complete the job in difficult conditions," said festival director Bill Hauritz.
This festival, while revealing the amazing wealth of entertainment talent that abounds in Australia, also dug up some international jewels who played Woodford for the first time.
French band Babylon Circus, a high-energy, all-action gypsy ska outfit that seems to pump adrenaline into audiences, became an instant favourite for festival dance fiends.
Meanwhile, Taikoz, a group of Australo-Japanese drummers, had everbody's heart beating with electrifying shows that demonstrated their mastery of complicated taiko rhythms. Moshav with an appealing edgy ethnic sound, also grew in popularity and delivered for every show.
Aussie bands Toothfaeries and Doch had festivalgoers leaping, while The Siberian Circus team put on awesome aerial shows to astound audiences.
But in a festival showcasing more than 2800 performers and 500 acts, everyone's experience is unique because it's just physically impossible to see everything. Judging by the look on most festival-goers' faces, it would seem that everyone had found their own piece of magic. For at Woodford, there's magic in every corner, just waiting to be found.
Now, the organisers are already putting on their magic thinking caps, working out how to weave a wondrous spell over the next Woodford Folk Festival. Start counting - it's only about 354 sleeps away.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 04 January 2008 )
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Range News 2005 - ON 
