Held during the Easter long weekend every year in Canberra, the National Folk Festival is an amazing array of colour and has the most vibrant atmosphere.  Known as a must attend event for anyone in the music world, we thought we would go along and see just how well it would entertain the family.

Jasmine 6 was absolutely aghast at the event.  She sat and watched as one group of dancers dressed in period costume waltzed around the dance floor.  To her delight there were two girls about her age dancing too, she watched them longing to join in, that was until she was asked to join in!  A little too shy, she declined however had she stayed a little longer I am sure that there would have been no stopping her.  She takes a little while to warm up to new things and is much happier if Mum, Dad or even Jemma will join in with her, as I guess any 6 year old would be.

Jemma 4 was very cranky for being woken and rushed out the door early (well not so early, 9:30am).  While Greg was photographing a big choir in one of the pavilions, Jemma just wanted to stay and watch.  Jasmine and I went for a walk to get a coffee and came back to find Jemma fast asleep in the front row, with the choir in full chorus!  After her cat nap, she was a different child thankfully!  She too was amazed at the colour of the festival.  Bright flags flying all over the place, everyone dressed in bright coloured clothing and having a great time.  She was a little frightened at first by the kangaroo jumping towards her but very quickly thought it was hilarious and wanted to pat them. 

Teddy 10 months was happy to sit in the pram and soak up the colour, the atmosphere and the many smiles and hello’s he got from people walking past.

After a while we found the dedicated kids section to the festival.  The girls had a great time learning to Maypole Dance although I think the parents got more exercise running around untangling the kids.  Both girls turned into colourful butterflies with the free face painting and had special balloon hats made.  Jasmine, after heavy negotiations with the balloon man settled on a green and purple “rainbow” hat, could have been interesting should she have had all the colours! Jemma was more than happy with her pink hat with pink love heart, happiness is pink for Jemma. 

The girls took part in painting their piece of a big mural, they walked the labyrinth a number of times (although not quite in the “reflective” way they were supposed to), they learnt how some instruments were made and had an absolutely fantastic day.  When I asked them what their favourite thing of the day was, the unanimous answer was “THE FOOD!”  While it was fantastic to choose from so many cuisines, I wasn’t expecting that answer!  Perhaps it was the delicious rainbow coloured liquorice they liked most.

It was a jam packed day however for next year there are a couple of things we will do differently.  The first one is we will plan the day better.  The National Folk Festival website has a timetable of all the events that are on, had we planned better we would have had time for the girls to learn how to play an instrument, and they could also have taken part in the circus lessons.  We would also have been able to make more time to listen to the book readings, songs and stories in the children’s tent.

I think also that one day isn’t always enough, although they are completely warn out by the end of the day, there is just so much to do and see that even though you can plan ahead it is still difficult to fit everything in.  Weekend Passes are available and represent great value for the amount of free activities that are available for all ages inside.

I am from Canberra so I didn’t take advantage of the camping specials however if you would love to come and experience the National Folk Festival for yourself, then make sure you camp at the showgrounds, family friendly camping is encouraged.  This will allow you to go back to camp for a kip and head back in for the next Maypole session or Bush Tale.

No National Folk Festival would be complete without taking home some of the colour and culture.  Jasmine, Jemma and I left jingling all the way to the car with our lovely green anklets with tiny bells attached and Greg left with a new leather wrist band – not a fan of bells!

All in all a jam packed and fun filled day that saw every member of our family catered for, happy and absolutely exhausted!