Crowds are expected to turn out this weekend at the first Illawarra Folk Festival in three years.
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The event at Bulli Showground expects to be packed out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a Glastonbury Festival regular in the line up.
English singer-songwriter Grace Petrie (a regular of the UK festival circuit) will headline the Grandstand Bar on Saturday night.
On Sunday festival finale concert will be held at 5pm on Slacky Flat Bar. With acclaimed Paul McKenna Band bringing a celtic vibe at 3.30pm at the Grandstand Bar.
In total there will be 64 international, national and local acts playing across five stages at the festival, which runs from Friday, January 20 to Sunday, January 22.
Despite a push to attract younger audiences, the lineup is still suited to all ages with traditional sounds of folk, indie, world, roots, Celtic, Balkan and bluegrass music, poetry, dance and comedy, as well as the festival Folk School with various workshops held across the weekend.
The three-day event continues to support local performers, with more than 20 acts from the South Coast including Morning Star, Luke Spook, Dear Violet and The Con Artists.
"The 2023 festival will be on a smaller scale than the last one we held in 2020, because of the risks involved with organising festivals in these uncertain times. We don't receive any grant funding, so we rely on the resources of the Illawarra Folk Club, ticket sales and our amazing volunteers to stage the festival," De Santi said.
"But we certainly have got a quality program, so it will be a great weekend."
The full festival program and tickets are available on the website www.illawarrafolkfestival.com.au or by calling the ticket hotline on 1300 887 034.
INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS
Ajak Kwai (South Sudan), Curtis Eller (USA), Grace Petrie (UK), Jellyman's Daughter (UK), Ken Field's Hoot Band (USA), Paul McKenna Band (UK).
NATIONAL ARTISTS
Bush Music Club - Concert Party, Cigany Weaver, Den Hanrahan and The Rum Runners, Emily Lubitz Band, Glenn Skuthorpe, Good Tunes, Handsome Young Strangers, Kay Proudlove, Liv Cartledge, Margaret & Bob Fagan, Munsterbucks, Rheinberger and Wilson, Shanty Club, Shining Bird, Suzette Herft, Swing Beans, The Go Set , The Morrisons, The Papercollar Pickers, The Morning Star, The Raglins, The Water Runners, Wallaby Track Bush Band, Zumpa.
LOCAL ARTISTS
Az-I-Am, Black Joak Morris, Carefree Road Band, Cinnamon Twist Belly Dance, Combined Union Choirs, Curious Rendition Orchestra, Dear Violet, Dru Yoga, Fiddledance, Friends of Steve, Gobsmacked!, Kenny Bartley and the Midnight Feast, Luke Spook, Mally Moo & Music, Maurie Mulheron & Pat Craigie, Maypole with Molly, Meridian, Mother Banshee, Nikriann, Peter Mace, Peter Willey, Robyn Sykes, Rusty & The Saint, Saplings Sessions Bush Music Club, Steampunk Vagabonds, Stonybroke, Storybeats, Super Kenny, The Con Artists, The Femme Fatales, The Other Noonans, The Swingaleles, Tribal Jewels Dance Co, Zlatkos Balkan Cabaret.
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