Slver Super Saturday - 25th Illawarra Folk Festival

It’s Super Saturday on Saturday 16th January at the Illawarra’s Folk Festival at Bulli when patrons can have a choice of 125 separate concerts. There’s concerts to make you laugh, make you cry and make you dance and here’s a take on three of the best.
 
One of the Legends of the 20th Century’s Music scene will be remembered at the Illawarra Folk Festivaql at Bulli Showground on Saturday 16th January. Mary Travers was the female member of the iconic trio Peter Paul and Mary or PPM as they were often referred to.

Mary sadly died this year but lives on in her songs. Who can forget Puff The Magic Dragon, Lemon Tree, Early Mornin’ Rain, If I Had a Hammer, Day is Done and Last Thing On My mind among a host of great hit songs.

Certainly two of the Illawarra’s best female singers, Emma Hannah and Claire Roberts can’t forget. They cut their musical teeth on PPM (particularly Mary) and have already held a tribute to Mary, playing to a full house at the Wollongong Art Gallery.

They will be joined on stage by other PPM lovers like Stewart Holt, Alan Musgrove, The Borderers and Steve Goldrick. This is a concert where the audience can take part- Claire and Emma will be encouraging the audience to join in. The concert will be held in the Show Pavilion at 3pm on Saturday.

For those who like a good laugh then the ‘AVAGOODLAFF’ concert will kick the Saturday of with a bit of gut splitting. The Festival’s funny men will be struttin’ their stuff (if that’s what funny people do) in the Show Pavillion at 9.45 am.
From Western Australia comes Roger Montgomery and John Angus as Dingo’s Breakfast. They provide one of the most exhilarating and unique performances to ever come out of the cultural hotbed of ‘Hammy Hill’ (where ever that is). John Dengate, the Master of Parody and the Minglewood Mudcats, with their mixture of folk, fun, and satire will make sure that the humour has a bit of bite. Merry May Gill, who likes to make life in the bush sexy as well as funny will add the feminine funny bone to the concert.

To complete the line-up will be another Sandgroper Bernard Carney whose good looks and talent have earned him a place on the cover of the latest Perth telephone directory and the ABC’s Nick Rheinberger who’ll be letting his hair down free from the constraints of Aunty’s restrictions.

Now all this has been a bit sedentary so to wind up the day is the Saturday Night dance Party in the Marquee. The swinging Chris Wilson will lead and introduce five of the Festival’s best Dance Bands. Try this for a mixture of styles and rhythms. Try a bit of Greek with Zorba’s Kefi, The Italian with Big Snore hammers, The madness of the rhythms of Melbourne’s Go Set, The unclassifiable flavor of the Queensland group,  ‘A French butler Called Smith and the raw rhythms and beat of Percussion Junction.

All in all- a Super Saturday and we haven’t mentioned the other 123 acts on offer for the day. It has to be the best value since John Batman bought the site of Melbourne of the Aborigines for some mirrors and half a dozen axes.

General Festival Images 

2010 Festival Images