Folk club stages Gosford festival

Woy Woy's Troubadour Folk Club and the Kincumber's Brackets and Jam have joined forces to produce a three-day multicultural festival in Gosford.

CoastFest will replace annual folk festivals organised by the Troubadour Acoustic Music Club at Patonga and Umina, and will be held October 21 to 23.

The festival will include music, dance workshops and performance, poetry, story telling, art space, craft workshops, a Tipi talking space and healing village.

It will also include a chai tent, acoustic jam space, drama, theatre, circus, kids festival, film and multimedia, a drum circle and stomping ground for dance and fire twirling.

The event will also feature world food stalls, a market place, lantern parade and a festival finale.

Music artists will range from contemporary and alternative to world and blues and from traditional and folk to roots and medieval.

A concert stage and a Brackets and Jam stage win run simultaneously and feature musicians from many parts of Australia, as well as local musicians.

Music workshops will take place throughout Saturday and Sunday. These will include singing workshops, and a CoastFest choir workshop that everyone is welcome to join.

Separate blackboard concerts will be held where anyone can perform.

In the evenings, there will be sessions in a session bar and around the site, where performers and festival goers will be able to share their music.

A variety of dance styles will be represented at the festival, including Celtic, Middle Eastern, Afro Jazz, Native American, Maori as well as Indigenous Australian.

Friday and Saturday evenings will feature folk dances in the main pavilion where some of Sydney's best dance musicians and callers will introduce their special dances to experts and beginners alike.

Dancers will be able to experience English Country dance, dances from the Celtic traditional and modern styles, colonial quadrilles and couples dances, Scottish country and Ceilidh dances, bush dances; Irish step, ceili and set dances and American contra dances.

During the day on Saturday and Sunday, festivalgoers will be able to participate in an ongoing series of dance workshops.

The dance workshops will be interspersed with multicultural dance displays during rest periods.

Drumming will be a theme of the festival.

As well as performances, there will be several workshops that will culminate in participation and performance in the parade and festival finale.

Styles will include African, middle Eastern, Native American, as well as community drumming and percussion.

An art space will feature an exhibition by local artists as well as photography and multimedia.

Demonstrations and hands-on participation will be a feature and artists will share their knowledge at workshops over the weekend.

Workshops will also be free but there will be a small cost for materials.

A short film exhibition is also planned, as are drama activities with local drama groups.

Circus classes and demonstrations will also take place at the event.

The Tipi talking space will be an area to share knowledge and stories, a place to connect with other festival goers and a place to learn new things.

There will also be a chance to explore a range alternative health practices, including yoga, meditation, spiritual guidance and counselling, reiki, massage and other practices.

There will be a separate festival for children within the main festival.

Children will be encouraged to make craft items, to learn from music workshops, to participate in a lantern parade and to be entertained by pantomimes and story telling.

They will have a talent quest with prizes and main stage appearances for the different category winners.

The CoastFest Markets will feature a wide range of stalls including clothing, jewellery, musical items, a festival shop with performers' CDs and merchandise, multicultural items, art and craft.

A poets' breakfast will be held each morning in the restaurant.

Bush poets, including Vic Jefferies of Patonga, will host the breakfasts.

An ongoing theme for CoastFest will be "Caring for our Environment".

Leading environmental groups have been invited to set up information stalls, and to host information sessions throughout the weekend.

Guest speakers will provide information and answer questions on a range of environmental topics, including issues such as sustainability, eco-living, organic gardening and composting, global warming, protecting endangered species and other informative environmental topics.

The festival theme this year will be "United in Diversity", a celebration of unity, family, community and diversity.

There will be a number of activities both during the festival and leading up to the festival, where community groups or individuals can take part in creating this theme.

Brackets and Jam events will feature prayer flag making at each event leading up to the festival, other individuals, families or community groups will be encouraged to take apart and create their own string of prayer flags for the festival.

A season ticket entitling entry for the entire weekend is $45 with a special early bird price of $35 if purchased before October 1.

Individual day prices are $10 for Friday evening, $25 for Saturday, $15 for Saturday evening and $15 for Sunday.

There are no concessions and children 16 and under are free when accompanied by a paying adult.

The festival site will also have a large grass area set a side for camping, the cost will be $10 per adult for the entire weekend or part thereof.

The event is a not for profit event and net profits will be shared amongst booked performers and presenters, based on their level of participation.

A full program will be published and circulated as well as placed on the website in September.

Volunteers are also welcome to join the festival.

Seven or more hours volunteering entitles the volunteer free entry to the festival.

Application forms for performers, stallholders and volunteers can be downloaded from the website at www.bracketsandjam.com/CoastFest.

Tickets may be purchased over the counter from Peninsula Music at 38 George St, Woy Woy or by contacting 4342 9099.

For more information on how your school can be involved in the flag making process, that will become an integral part of the festival, contact 4325 7469.

Cec Bucello, August 18