The Cobargo Folk Festival runs from Friday 28 February to Sunday 2 March. There is also a free fringe festival in the village on Thursday 27 February. Photo: Supplied.
The Yuin Folk Club is pulling all the stops to make this year’s Cobargo Folk Festival extra special. It promises three days of music, dance, and joy.
Regular attendees of the festival will notice that this year’s program features predominantly Australian musicians and continues to stretch the definition of folk music.
The festival line-up includes Sufi music, a Bollywood dance, Balkan music, Canadian blues, and plenty of contemporary folk, alongside Australian bush music, traditional Celtic folk, and everything in between.
Festival director Zena Armstrong said the festival’s line-up represented the enormous diversity of folk and roots music produced by Australian artists.
“This year we are supporting Australian musicians because we know conditions are very tough at the moment and have been since COVID,” Ms Armstrong said. “We want to do what we can as a festival to support them so they can continue to create new music for us.”
Among the Australian independent musicians performing at the festival are We Mavericks from Tumut. Fresh from completing two successful tours of Europe and New Zealand, the duo is now almost better known overseas than at home.
Backing artists like We Mavericks keep folk music and culture alive and push it in new directions.
“Australian musicians pour their hearts into their music without the backing of big labels or budgets. They produce world-class music,” Ms Armstrong said. “By coming along to festivals like ours, you are supporting the future of independent Australian live music.”
A young busker at the Cobargo Folk Festival in 2024. Photo: Marion Williams.
The festival will mark the fifth anniversary of the Black Summer bushfires that devastated Cobargo and destroyed a third of its main street.
With the rebuild underway and thanks to a grant from Destination NSW, the Yuin Folk Club is taking some festival fun back to where it started. A free fringe festival on the village’s main street kicks off on Thursday afternoon.
“The festival started in the village back in 1996, and for some time we have wanted to take some activities back into the village,” Ms Armstrong said.
Six venues will showcase South Coast performers. There will also be a bush dance, local speakers, and a screening of The Day She Stole The Sun, a documentary about Cobargo’s bushfire experience.
It is a community celebration that will give people a taste of the art, music, and vibrant energy of the main festival.
The festival itself will feature a Cobargo-themed concert with contributions from the festival’s headline acts.
Cabaret duo Shortis and Simpson have produced ‘Five Years On: The Cobargo Concert’ to commemorate and celebrate how far the village has come since the bushfires.
“A lot of performers from the fringe festival and the main festival program are involved, including two choirs and the Taiko drummers,” Ms Armstrong said. “There will be healing, tears, as well as a lot of joy.”
Another nod to the bushfires is the return of Skerryvore. Three-time winners of Scotland’s Live Act of the Year award, they represent the best of contemporary Scottish traditional music.
Skerryvore first played Cobargo in 2019 and were one of the first bands to make contact after the bushfires.
“We deeply appreciated their concern, and we know they will get a very big welcome,” Ms Armstrong said.
Cabaret duo Shortis and Simpson performed at the Cobargo Folk Festival with Michael Simic in 2024. Photo: Marion Williams.
The festival is introducing a shuttle bus service between Cobargo and Narooma, with stops at Bermagui and along the Princes Highway near Tilba and Mystery Bay.
“Not everyone wants the full festival camping experience,” Ms Armstrong said. “The shuttle will enable visitors to use other local accommodation, and to dip in and out of the festival, as well as enjoy other attractions on the Sapphire Coast.”
The festival brings magic into a tough old world.
“If people go away feeling a little bit happier and a little more connected, we have done our job,” Ms Armstrong said.
The Cobargo Folk Festival runs from Friday 28 February, to Sunday 1 March. Tickets and the full program can be found on the website. It Takes a Village is free and starts at 4 pm on Thursday 27 February.
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