As well as being the 20th Fairbridge Festival, 2012 is also the 10th year that we have run Youthopia (yes, it really has been that long) and we’re gonna make it a good one. You can dance up a storm with Melbourne gypsy-swing fiends The Woohoo Revue, Perth reggae-roots groovers The Sunshine Brothers, and a joyous mash-up combining members of Fairbridge veteran acts Double Entendre, Sit Down Cedric and The Lonely Brothers who’ve come together to form a brand new Freo supergroup: Ensemble Formidable. We are also extremely excited to announce the very first Fairbridge Festival Trad Disco, presented by the amazing Ado Barker of Australia’s premier Irish traditional music group, Trouble in the Kitchen.
So what is Trad Disco? It is impossible to truly understand the magnificence of Trad Disco until you experience for yourself, but I’ll try to explain: Picture your typical Fairbridge Saturday night, the crowd going nuts on the dance floor… wearing some of the craziest outfits you’ve ever seen… to traditional (“trad”) Irish, Scottish and other Celtic music, at rip-roaring speed, with the bass turned up. It’s a whole new world of awesome beyond your wildest dreams.
We have more great trad for you with 2010 Declan Affley Award winners The Simpson Three (Melbourne) and an eclectic mix of tunes from Brittany to the Balkans with Jeri Foreman and Paddy Montgomery (Adelaide/Melbourne). The Joe Black Trio brings us world music and jazz-tinged melodies from across the globe. Veering into blues and new-grass territory we have The Seals (Perth) and Jesse Woodward’s Good-Time Stompers (Freo). Rachel and Henry Climb a Hill, Lemonwise and Blue Lucy round out the local contingent with folkified melodic pop, and Lucy Wise returns with her memorable original songs accompanied by Mischa Herman (Melbourne).
But we’ve never just been about dancing and listening: We believe in helping out the young performers of tomorrow and making sure you’re never, EVER bored, so there’s plenty for you to join in with in another fantastic line-up of workshops, from jiving with a kwela band and songwriting to circus skills, street theatre and cooking classes. Full details of our workshop program will be posted over the next few weeks.
In addition, this year we are proud to present The Quest Folk and World Music Songwriting Competition for high school-aged young people: If you are between 12 and 18 years of age and you have been writing your own original songs in the folk and/or world music idiom, I strongly encourage you to enter. There are two age categories and the winner of each gets the opportunity to perform at the 2012 Fairbridge Festival, and at Camelot Outdoor Cinema prior to the festival. And as always, you can also have your shot in the spotlight with our Youthopia blackboard concert, lounge around in the Seedbox, get your hands busy creating something amazing in the Youth Art Space, and warm yourself up in the evenings with a hot drink from Choc ‘n’ Chai.
With a great mix of old festival favourites, fresh new acts, a full program of interactive workshops and other rambunctious camaraderie propelling us on towards our next decade of great music and fun times, 2012 will be a great year for Youthopia.
Ruth Wise
Youth Program Director
youth@fairbridgefestival.com.au
