Moreton Bay Regional Council purchases Woodford Folk Festival site, securing festival's future
Kelmeny Fraser
From: The Sunday Mail (Qld)
THE home of Queensland's iconic Woodford Folk Festival will be bought by a local council thanks to a deal to save the popular event from financial ruin.
Moreton Bay Regional Council yesterday struck an agreement with the Queensland Folk Federation, which runs the annual festival, to buy the 200ha site, north-west of Brisbane, after a unanimous vote by the QFF's 150+ members to support the sale.
The bail-out will save the festival from a financial mud pit created by poor festival attendance levels after recent events at the site were washed out by bad weather, which also caused costly delays in upgrades to the site.
Numbers were down about 20,000 people at last year's festival.
The land deal will also secure the future of other festivals held at the site, including The Dreaming and this year's Splendour in the Grass.
The cost to council of buying the land is yet to be disclosed.
The land will be leased back by the Queensland Folk Federation, which will continue to run the events.
QFF director Bill Hauritz could not be contacted for comment, but Moreton Bay Regional councillor for the area Adrian Raedel said it was about ensuring the $40 million generated by events at the site each year stayed in the local economy.
"In securing the Woodford Folk Festival and events that occur on the site we are securing the economic benefits to the community, not only for the businesses, but for the community groups that raise money from the influx of people arriving and spending cash,'' he said.
"Thousands and thousands of people love attending the Woodford Folk Festival and all the other events.''
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