In early 1974, a group of friends from central Victoria discussed the need for a local folk festival and decided that Maldon was an ideal spot.
The first two festivals, held at the Bill Woodfull Oval, were little more than social gatherings for 150-200 musicians and listeners.
They consisted of sessions at the Kangaroo Hotel, camping at the oval, sessions around the campfire and a concert on the Sunday afternoon.
The next 11 years (1976-1986) saw almost all of the activity held at Butts Reserve, at the foot of Mount Tarrangower. This proved to be an ideal venue with its natural amphitheatre and plenty of room for camping.
During this period the festival kicked off with an informal session at one or more of the pubs on Friday evening.
Concerts were held at Butts on the Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with a bush dance on Saturday night. Usually, a session would start up at one or other of the pubs in the evening after the concert, involving those who didn’t feel like dancing.
The concert was run as a sort of chalkboard arrangement in those days. Anyone wishing to perform would give their names to the organisers and wait to be called.
Over the years, the number of performers built up to the extent that soloists were restricted to two items and bands to four. The concert would last most of the day.
The festival was almost entirely free at that time. Audiences did not pay, and performers did not get paid. There was an entry fee for the Saturday night dance to pay for the hire of the Baringhup Hall. Funds were raised by means of a blanket collection on the Saturday and Sunday afternoons to pay for the hire of equipment, PA etc.
In 1986, the organising group had decided to call it a day, and announcements were made to that effect during the course of the 1986 festival. Their decision would have meant the end of the Maldon Folk Festival but for the actions of one well-known character, rallying a couple of his mates and stepping into the breach.
The man who took the reins after 1986 was one Neville ‘Fatty’ Wilson. Neville was well known to festival goers long before then, however. He could be seen taking the blanket around for donations, seeing that campsites were well supplied with firewood and a host of other jobs, always with a word of welcome for people.
The story goes that Fatty said to someone, “I know very little about folk music, but I’m a damn good organiser”. The reply was, “Well, I’m hopeless at organising but I know a bit about folk music”, and the festival was up and well and truly running.
The years from 1987 to the present time have seen some significant changes, the first of these being the introduction of an entry fee and weekend passes, which has facilitated the booking of higher profile performers (while retaining a good lineup of amateurs and locals).
In a short time, a Folk Festival committee was established, and on festival weekends, a ticket office was set up.
Neville Wilson died in 1996, but during his time as president, he built up and moulded a very good working committee, which, as committees go, is large, but everyone has an allotted task. Unlike the early years, and with only two or three exceptions, the committee members were all residents of Maldon.
After 1996, the festival was run by the committee with the Browns, Linda Bullen and Mike Ruggles as festival/artistic directors and the festival was held mostly at Butts Reserve.
When most of the old committee resigned in 2012, Pam Lyons took over as festival/artistic director, a position she holds to this day.
The 2025 Maldon Folk Festival will be held from October 31 to November 3.
Visit www.maldonfolkfestival.com for details.
