“In May 1977 I restarted the Geelong Folk Music Club,” McKew says. “That got off to a flying start. Later that year I suggested to our little group, ‘Let’s start a festival.’ They said ‘Yeah. Good. Where?’ and I said ‘Port Fairy’ as I had been going to Port Fairy since I was a tiny kid. I was probably conceived there. I knew some people down there who knew how to do a bit of organising. I went down and said, ‘We want to start a festival’ and they said, ‘Yeah, what will you need?’ I said, ‘I need a couple of halls and a couple of parks.’ I got some help from the Melbourne Folk Club people who had been involved in national folk festivals in the past, so we had a bit of knowledge of how to get things done.”
Happily for McKew and his colleagues the first festival proved to be a success. “We had a good weekend really,” he says. “Tickets were only $4. We took in about $1,000, which paid the bills. We thought, ‘OK, let’s do it again.’ ”
In the last four decades countless festivals have bloomed and then withered, but the Port Fairy Folk Festival has gone from strength to strength and has become an internationally acclaimed drawcard for music fans and performers. According to McKew, the festival’s success and longevity is down to several important contributing factors.
“It doesn’t hurt that it’s a really beautiful place to go down and visit,” he says. “It doesn’t hurt that it’s a long weekend and it’s a great time to escape Melbourne. As you are building a program you get a feel for acts that are going to really hang together well. I spend probably three months at least just getting the program into shape. That’s part of it. It’s a community not-for-profit festival and I think this is one of the most powerful things. It’s [also] the effort we put into great venues. Right from the start I was mad keen when I ran the folk club [to have] people listen to the music and it’s kind of become a culture at the festival.
“It is a listening audience. That’s brilliant for the acts as it’s a great place to put your music across. We strive to have really great sound production so that you can get the best out of the musicians and get the best experience for the audience as well. The community has embraced the festival since the early days. All of the volunteers and construction crews [work] really hard. It’s got tremendous community spirit.”
The festival has had a beneficial impact on Port Fairy and the surrounding areas. As McKew says, “It builds community. Financially, we put money back into the community. It’s a great example of an artistic event supporting the economy and the liveability of the community as well as building the culture of the community. It has made the town a really great, strong and thriving place. It’s a healthy community.”
The musical treats on offer for the upcoming 40th anniversary include Mary Black, Shooglenifty, DakhaBrakha, The Mastersons, and Luka Bloom. There will be other attractions such as “lantern parades” and “40 huge flags installed, flying in the wind, actually made by local volunteers.
“Bob Dylan’s song Forever Young has become a little bit of a theme of the festival. Sure, we are 40 but our attitude is to remain forever young. That’s my attitude too.”
BY GRAHAM BLACKLEY
