It's not every day that festivalgoers welcome the rain - but that was the vibe at the Illawarra Folk Festival over the weekend.
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The festival, now in its 35th year, started on Thursday and wrapped up on Sunday with the last performance - tagged Final Words - finishing at 6.30pm. Longtime patrons know the festival is no stranger to rainy weather but this year, publicity officer Nick Hartgerink said it actually made people happy.
"If anything it lifted everybody's spirits because they're so happy to see the rain after the month we've had, particularly on the South Coast," Mr Hartgerink said.
"The feedback I'm getting from around the place is that it's much better than last year when it was 35 degrees."
The fires on the South Coast was very much on the minds of both bands and festivalgoers, with a fundraiser for the Cobargo community - which has its own iconic folk festival - raising $5000.
"There was a letter writing hub set up with an invitation for festival patrons to send their messages of support, particularly to the South Coast bushfire victims," Mr Hartgerink said.
While he said it would take a few days to calculate the numbers of people through the festival gates, Mr Hartgerink said the weather probably did lead to a small drop in ticket sales.
"The rain probably cost us a few walk-ups," he said.
But he said the people who did go to the festival had a great time - and they weren't just the hardcore folkies either.
"I was watching [indie-folk band] Elephant Sessions ... it was lots of young people in their late teens and early 20s dancing away."