Hello Groovers, I was going to start with a joke about how I’ve been hanging out in a hotbed of radicalism, but that doesn’t seem very appropriate now.  So instead, I will tell you about how lovely it was to spend last weekend at the National Folk Festival (Canberra) with many people of goodwill.  Admittedly we were a little cranky given the political times/blame games, but we took our frustrations out in peaceful and creative ways, such as through humour, verse and songs of kindness.  Here’s how it goes.

Campbell, the Swaggie, travels the countryside attending festivals where he shares bush poetry, stories, and smiles.  He plans to retire at 100.

Swaggie

It was fabulous to see so many talented performers — young and old — from around Australia and the world.  I counted at least 115 performer listings in the program.  My Canadian readers may be interested to know that there were quite a few performers from Canada.  I was startled to hear the accent of young Canadian performer, April Verch.  It was unexpected because, you may not know this, but all of my international readers speak to me with an Aussie accent!  Anyway, here are a couple of photos of some of our local performers.  (Apologies.  I didn’t take the good camera.  A deliberate choice.)

Liz Frencham & Loren Kate
Raduga Trio
Wayan Dana of the Praashekh Quartet
Paverty Bush Band
STAV

It wouldn’t be a proper folk festival without folk dancing.
Everyone knows the Hokey Pokey …  is an act of subversion.

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This lot could exercise no self-control.  It was a joy to behold.

Follow that star.

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It turns out that you can have too many lentils (my blood sugar went sky high).
Thankfully the Agedashi was to die for.  Truly, it is not easy being green.

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Festivals are normally big power users.  However, Canberra’s local government has committed to a 100% renewable energy target by 2020.  Of course, if you are an interstate or international visitor, you still have to get here.  The plate in the above photo was bio-degradable so it went into the compost bin.  I took my own coffee cup.  The coffee was good.

recycling

Now, who is this scary looking mob?  A bunch of greenies!  In other words, regular people who were only too willing to have their photo taken for illustrative purposes.

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There was also time for some shopping.  Stick that up your coal stack, Adani.

adani.jpg

So not dangerous; just wanting to make a difference, share their passion and have fun.  I will leave you with this performance by John John Festival — a Japanese band playing Celtic folk tunes.  You’ve seen and heard it all now, ladies and gentlemen.

Kind Regards
Tracy

Lens-Artists Challenge – Creativity.

61 thoughts on “Dangerous Liaisons?”

      2. I lost about 25kg 4 years ago, dawnbird. It took a very long time. I ate only one meal and walked four hours a day. I think I’ve put it all back on. I don’t think I can do that again. I need to walk more again. At least an hour, and I will be happy. Congrats on losing that weight. I now how difficult it is.

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      3. Wow! That’s impressive.

        I’ve been making small changes only, moving more and motivated by other reasons! I no longer drink diet fizzy, eat nothing that says diet or lite and make better choices when I travel, or try to be more prepared with my meals.

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  2. Looks like a fabulous festival!! Love the green theme and the music by John John Festival. What is Agedashi (looks yummy!)? All of the above said in my imagined Australian accent! lol

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    1. It was (is), Heather. There is always some wonderful performance to see across the four days. And many workshops too for those who want to learn from the experts.

      Agedashi is fried tofu. The Japanese chef cooked it while we waited, so it was so fresh and steaming hot. Absolutely delicious.

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  4. And a great time was had by all. That agedashi looks just scrumptious, So hard to get decent tofu in Shropshire! And as for the Japanese-Celtic performance – tremendous. Thanks for this all round delicious post, Tracy.

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    1. I did, Martha. When I was cleaning out my bag today, I found a little bird whistle that I had bought. You put water in it to adjust the pitch. The gentleman from whom I bought it, told me that these type of whistles date back to the Middle Ages. It is so cool. I love it.

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      4. I know these bird whistles! Even tried to make one myself with clay – didn’t really sound good though. 😉

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      6. The bought ones sound wonderfully, it’s just the one that I tried to make myself that sounds more like a dog howling, even with water! 😀 But I won’t give up! One day I’ll make it work. 😉

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  6. This looks like so much fun Tracy and I love the Japanese interpretation of our Celtic reels – they’re truly awesome! 😀💖🎶 xxx

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  7. Wow; that young violinist is awesome. Thanks for the video link, and for a lovely post that reminds me there are good folk around. The tofu looks absolutely delish.

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  17. Really love your festival posts, Tracy and will definitely have to plan my visit to Australia to include at least one! That tofu looks scrumptious! Good music and food, lovely people and art – can’t get much better than that! 😄

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  18. You’re right, Tracy. We really have to try and get to that festival one day. I was tempted by your post last year, and I’m even more tempted now! What a lot of good vibes there must have been there.

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      1. It would have been wonderful to hear him, Tracy. And did he play ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’? Not a dry eye anywhere, I’m sure.

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      2. He didn’t sing that in the sessions I went to, Jane. But he had a few more performances that I didn’t manage to get to. He would have sung it for sure at the closing concert. I did hear him sing The Green Fields of France though. And also Freedom Lost, which was tremendously powerful. Look it up if you don’t know it.

        There was also a joint concert between John Schumann and Shane Howard and they sang Only 19 and Solid Rock.

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