In Australia, summer and autumn is the time
for the largest festivals. Well they pop up all year round but between
December and April there is the Woodford Folk
Festival , The National
Folk Festival and the Port Fairy Folk
Music Festival. There are also festivals like the Cygnet Folk Festival (Tasmania) that
although not on the scale of the others, punch above their weight!
All
these festivals celebrate storytelling with shows, workshops and in the case of
Port Fairy and Woodford, awards.
One
of the things I love about the festivals is the chance to catch up
with storytellers from around the country. I first met Irish Joe Lynch at
Woodford in Queensland and then we met up again at the Cygnet Festival.
At
Cygnet, Joe was performing poetry but at Woodford he told, for the first time,
a set of stories from his Irish heritage. In a windy corner at Cygnet, Joe
shared some words with me about the tale of Oisín Tír na hÓige and what it means to him.
Thanks for sharing Joe.
Jackie K
