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Multi award winning Neo-trad quintet, Elephant Sessions, have just been confirmed to perform at the 2018 National Folk Festival.
Riding a wave of popularity, the indie folk band from the Highlands of Scotland has been enthralling audiences at some of Europe's most notable festivals and attracting critical accolades from music writers across all genres, including Rolling Stone magazine.
The National Folk Festival today announced Elephant Sessions, along with a range of new artists in its 2018 line-up, including top-drawer overseas and local acts, loud and proud community choirs, and incisive and comedic poets.
Belgian quintet WÖR injects new energy into 18th-century tunes from the Flanders region with their finely textured, innovative arrangements. Theirs is a modern twist on old tunes from the masters.
A treat for lovers of Irish music, Compánach is an intimate, audio-visual concert of music, song and dance bringing alive Irish traditional music against a backing flow of large-screen photographic images. Irish band, The Young Folk will delight with their tender song writing and harmonies and Trouble in the Kitchen returns to the National with a fresh repertoire of their firebrand take on Irish traditional music. Dancing shoes required!
Festival favourites, All Our Exes Live in Texas have been described as 'the most badass girl folk group ever'. Their powerful harmonies and heartbreakingly good song writing have wowed audiences across Australia and internationally and this is their third time the National. Another favourite, Victorian triple ARIA winners, My Friend The Chocolate Cake returns to the National in 2018 after a long absence.
Esteemed Scottish tradition bearer Fiona Ross joins forces with guitar maestro and ex-Steeleye Span member Ken Nicol to deliver a mesmerising set of traditional songs while The Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club, with members aged from 8 to 80 will play original songs and haunting airs, high-octane jigs, reels and strathspeys.
There's New Orleans street music from Sydney's own Low Down Riders, upbeat, irreverent, eclectic versions of folk, blues, rap, country and gypsy music from Jugularity, bluegrass from the Davidson Brothers, old-school blues, Delta gospel and Mississippi Jazz from Electric Tommy Johnston and blues, gospel and folk from Frets Patrick.
Winner of the 2017 Lis Johnson Award for Vocal Excellence, Loren Kate will perform her beautifully crafted songs, The Northern Folk will showcase their unique brand of folk/pop/stomp/rock, Zac Saber will perform his soulful vocals and teenager, Matilda Rose wows audiences with her powerfully emotive and insightful songs that show a maturity well beyond her 16 years.
Meyers and McNamara boldly combine Klezmer and Jewish music with experimental instrumentals and original compositions and there's also Island music, fused with jazz, reggae and African roots from Benji and the Saltwater Sound System and a fusion of hard rock and blues from The Quick and The Dead.
Community Choirs sing loud and proud and this year's line-up includes the Grassroots Union Choir of Tasmania, Alleycats Community Choir from Victoria and InterVarsity from the ACT. There's also the Ukestral Voices from NSW, singing three to four part harmonies accompanied by the Ukulele, with a touch of comedy thrown in.
The National Folk Festival celebrates not only music, song and dance, but also the spoken word and poets in the 2018 line-up include award winning Keith McKenry with his mischievous and irreverent mix of original verse and bush poetry, Sandra Renew with her social and political critique, Andrew Galan described by reviewers as 'riddled with satire', Northern Territory poet and folk musician Daniel J Townsend, bush poet Peter Mace, performance poet Jacqui Malins teaming up with cellist Julia Horvath and award-winning cowboy poet and wordsmith extraordinaire from the US, Dick Warwick, presenting classic and original verses.
There's also satirist and poet-musician Martin Pearson, Canberra's own BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! with their poetry, rhyming, hip hop, verse, manifestos, shopping lists, rants and more, bush poetry from Gregory North and the comedy act, Glover and Sorrensen, who say they are just two blokes having a chat with the audience.
There's something for everyone at the National and in 2018, fun activities for the whole family include the Super Circus Squad with their interactive show following the journey of two super-heroes and the String Bean Puppets from New Zealand.
Promising 'five days in a perfect world', Canberra's award-winning National Folk Festival is one of the country's longest-running, family-friendly and widely loved music festivals. The five-day celebration of music, song, dance, circus, spoken word and film features more than 200 international and national acts and attracts more than 40,000 visitors. Hundreds of volunteers transform Exhibition Park (EPIC) into a fantastical village, complete with roving entertainers, street circus, stages of all sizes, market stalls, food vans, shopping precincts, cafes, themed bars and arts and craft activities.
The 52nd National Folk Festival runs throughout Easter, 29 March-2 April 2018 at Exhibition Park, corner Flemington Road and Northbourne Avenue, Mitchell, ACT. Tickets on sale now: discounted Early Bird Tickets available.
