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The organisers of the annual Woodford Folk Festival have announced that its 2020 edition will not be held as a result of ongoing concerns about the impact of Coronavirus restrictions.

Festival organisers announced on Friday that the event, due to be held for the 35th time between 27th December and 1st January, would not proceed this year after “hinting at this for weeks now.”

Instead, they will host Bushtime - two five-night camping experiences in September across Woodfordia’s 500 acre site featuring concerts, science talks, bush walking, yoga workshops and other arts and culture-based activities.

Festival Executive Director, Bill Hauritz explained “our team have spent a lot of this year hopeful that we could do a scaled down version of Woodford, but the more we studied, the more impossible it became.

“We can never meet reasonable guidelines rightly imposed by authorities to make it safe in this COVID-19 world”.

Hauritz and his team are to receive $170,000 in state funding, through Arts Queensland, to put towards Bushtime.

Announcing this backing, Queensland Arts Minister, Leeanne Enoch stated “the Woodford Folk Festival team have found an innovative way to activate the festival site, provide unique experiences for locals and visitors, and provide jobs for Queenslanders working in the arts and cultural sector.”

Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones said Bushtime will “deliver a great boost for local businesses at a time when everyone is doing it tough”, adding “Woodfordia is one of the most beautiful places in the world to visit and Bushtime gives visitors another reason to book a trip to the region.”

Image: Woodford Folk Festival. Courtesy of Facebook/Woodford Folk Festival.

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