March 16, 2014
The annual Maidenwell Folk Gathering held from Friday night to Sunday morning drew a good crowd despite a small storm which lashed the Maidenwell area early Friday night.
The three-day music event, now in its 14th year, saw about 200 visitors from Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and all parts of the South Burnett converge on the Maidenwell Hotel for a relaxed indoor and outdoor gathering of folk music fans.
David Stripe, one of the Gathering’s organising committee, said he was “very happy” with the turnout and heaped praise on the Maidenwell Hotel for providing the venue.
“Gavin Jones (Maidenwell Hotel licencee) couldn’t be more helpful,” he said.
The event got underway early on Friday evening, although keen visitors had begun taking up camping spaces around the hotel as early as Thursday.
Most of Friday night’s events were held inside the hotel itself, with guests taking part in informal jam sessions in the hotel’s dining room, main bar and out on the porches.
On Saturday – in near perfect weather – the action swapped to a small stage area at the rear of the hotel, then continued inside late into the night.
And on Sunday morning, there were scattered performances amongst guests before the festival broke up.
Last year – for the first time – the Folk Gathering held a second event in October to test out a Spring version of the concept, and will be doing the same on the October long weekend this year as part of the South Burnett and Cherbourg On Show long weekend.
“The March Folk Gathering has always been a completely acoustic affair,” David Stripe said.
“But we’re hoping to broaden the October Folk Gathering into something a bit bigger to attract another type of audience.”
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