The National Folk Festival is returning in 2022 for its 30th year on Ngunnawal Country (Canberra) with a lineup of 200 acts.
Given the significance of the milestone, the festival has enlisted a legendary First Nations lineup for a series of one-time-only musical collaborations, featuring Archie Roach, the Warumpi Band’s Uncle Sammy Butcher and Neil Murray, and Yothu Yindi, who will celebrate their own 30-year anniversary, of their iconic song ‘Treaty’.
Roach will open the festival on Friday, April 15, with his final performance on Ngunnawal Country, where he will be joined in duet by 12-year-old Gubbi Gubbi Artist Layla Barnett and NFF artists Kate Ceberano, The Phoenix Collective String Quartet, Jack Carty, Katie Noonan, Parvyn, Tenzin Choegal, Emma Donovan, and the National Folk Festival Family Choir.
What you need to know
- National Folk Festival returns for its 30th anniversary
- Easter long weekend, 14-18 April 2022 in Exhibition Park, Canberra.
- Over 200 acts on the lineup, including Archie Roach and Yothu Yindi
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Closing the festival on Monday, April 18, will be the Warumpi Band’s Butcher and Murray, who will perform alongside Sammy’s 12-year-old grandson and granddaughter, The Hauptmann Trio, Greg Sheehan, Lior & Domini, Omar Musa, Archer and the National Folk Festival Family Choir.
“I am thrilled and honoured to be the caretaker of this amazing festival in its 30th year on Ngunnawal Country,” said the National Folk Festival’s Artistic Director, Katie Noonan.
“For five days we will gather in our nation’s capital Canberra – a Ngunnawal word for ‘meeting place’ – and celebrate all things folk of our modern Australia. This a festival for absolutely everyone young and old, and there are plenty of ways you can be a part of our festival via our National Folk Family Choir and/or multiple workshops throughout the festival.
“I believe that deep down, everyone is an artist, and this festival is where you can come and be an artist with kindred spirits and find your home, find your family and find your folk. We can’t wait to celebrate our incredibly rich, diverse and world class Australian artists with you.”
For tickets and information, plus a full lineup so big we actually couldn’t include it, head to the festival website here.
