Music / 60th National Folk Festival Opening Concert. At Budawang Theatre, EPIC, April 2. Reviewed by HELEN MUSA.

Reports that pre-sales for this year’s National Folk Festival had already exceeded those of many previous years were confirmed when enthusiastic crowds packed into the Budawang Theatre for a pot-pourri opening concert celebrating global folk traditions.

Californian fiddle and cello duo Natalie and Brittany Haas opened the evening with The Swan, creating a sense of drama through the interplay of their instruments. They later welcomed their friend Phil Jamison, a renowned American dance caller, who danced up a storm in a lively display of Appalachian step dance.

A shift in tone followed with Adelaide-based Iranian musician Maryam Rahmani, who performed a delicate composition on the santur, the Persian dulcimer.

She was succeeded by Australian traditional folk favourites The Mandy Connell Trio, described by festival president Emma Cotter as “icons of the folk festival.”

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the 2026 National Folk Festival Lifetime Achievement Award to Rob and Olya Willis, honoured for decades of collecting, archiving and sharing folklore, including more than 3000 hours of recordings.

They shared the award with English-born folk singer Martyn Wyndham-Read, a major figure in Australian folk music since his early years in the country. Wyndham-Read remained on stage to perform Never-Never Land, based on a 1901 poem by Henry Lawson.

Longtime festival favourites Chloë and Jason Roweth (Jason will host the festival’s Great Poetry Debate this year) brought humour and reflection with a song posing the question, “What is sacred?”

Co-artistic director of the festival, Michael Sollis addressed the audience, highlighting the diversity of the 60th festival, including Palestinian and Ngunnawal contributions. He emphasised the participatory spirit of the event, noting that 11 ensembles were rehearsing daily with direct public involvement.

“It’s an opportunity to participate,” he said, predicting the festival would continue to grow on that basis. Reiterating remarks from an earlier event that evening, he added that the aim was “to turn the festival into a giant dance floor.”

That intent was made manifest with a performance by Suara Dance, featuring artists Alfira and Murtala. Specialising in Indonesian forms from Sumatra, they began with a Minangkabau dance and were later joined by the Woden Valley Youth Choir, who had worked with the company on a combined vocal and percussion piece.

Closing the concert, Finnish trio T3HO, Esko Järvelä, Tero Hyväluoma and Antti Puumalainen, demonstrated how tradition can meet the future, blending Nordic folk with electronic elements. And in another sign that the festival is reaching out beyond the EPIC event, we heard that they’ve been conducting a week-long residency with the ANU School of Music.

The 60th National Folk Festival, Exhibition Park, until April 6.