2026 Artist Application - IFF -

ILLAWARRA FOLK FESTIVAL 2026

16-18 January

PERFORMERS - EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Applications close at midnight on Sunday 25 May 2025.

Performer Guidelines and Information

Please read through the following information prior to applying.

We've provided quite a bit of information below to give you an idea of the festival, its aims, some remuneration guidelines and other considerations.

We do not have any major grants or funding at this stage and will be relying on ticket sales to survive. The festival is presented by volunteers from the Illawarra Folk Club and friends.

We are anticipating a large volume of applications and are hoping to advise the status of applications at the end of June 2025.

Kay Proudlove and David De Santi
Co-Artistic Directors
artists@illawarrafolkclubfestival.com.au

About the 2026 Festival

The 39th Illawarra Folk Festival is to be held at the Bulli Showground (10km north of Wollongong, NSW) from Friday afternoon 16 January 2026 to Sunday evening, 18 January 2026.

The Illawarra Folk Festival is an event that exudes friendliness, participation and having a good time with new and old friends. Many of the artists camp on site and some limited accommodation may be provided with home host billets.

Folk School

The festival is always looking for tutors for the Folk School that is held on the Friday of the festival. Selected tutors are provided $100 for each 1-hour session they present. You can indicate your interest in the application form.

Artist's Responsibilities

Artists accept responsibility for their own Public Liability Insurance. When performing, you are a Festival service provider and as such, are not covered by the Festival's public liability insurance. We suggest investigating insurance options with Folk Alliance Australia and follow the links to 'insurance'. You will need to be or become a member of Folk Alliance Australia. Other short-term options include Duck for Cover and Marsh.
Artists accept all responsibility for their tax obligations, superannuation and WorkCover requirements.
Artists are to provide their own instruments and equipment, some backline is provided at larger stages.
Artists are responsible for their meals and drinks. Water will be provided at stages.

Family Pass Discounts

The festival does not provide complimentary guest tickets for friends and family of performers. If selected to perform at the festival, discounted passes for partners and young children (U18) will be available. These rates are approximately 50% of the full ticket rate and will be detailed in the logistics stage of planning.

You may want to take these costs into account when providing the fee request in the application form.

Fee Suggestion

Please read and keep the following in mind when considering your fee request:

We are a volunteer-run festival and the fees we can accommodate are modest. We have built a great community over the past 40 years, with some local acts and community groups even donating their performance time to take part in the unique atmosphere that The Illawarra Folk Festival has to offer. We also understand that professional musicians offer their services for a set price. You are welcome to ask for what you would like, but we do have a budget to stick to, and this is a major consideration in the selection process. Although we cannot offer 'Glastonbury-esque' remuneration for your time, we do hope that participating in the festival will fill your cup in other ways.
We provide free camping sites and, in some instances, may provide accommodation based upon circumstances. Partner and children passes are not provided but will be available at greatly reduced prices (see Family Pass Discounts).
All artist fees quoted are to be totally inclusive of all costs such as GST, travel, visas, meals
In general, we want artists to be there for the majority of the festival and to provide 2 to 3 performances during their stay
On-site accommodation for artists will be available from Thursday, 15th January 2026

International Act Fees

Fees are negotiable, but in general, the offered fee can range anywhere between $500 and $3000 and more depending on the number of artists in the act, suitability and appeal to the festival. The festival does not provide airfares. Artists are responsible for arranging their visas, insurance and transport to and from the festival. There are only a limited number of international acts we accept who generally are visiting Australia. We do provide accommodation either with a billet or an on-site artist tent.

Selection Criteria

We select acts mainly by the following criteria:

Act Availability
- The Festival officially starts at 4 pm on Friday, 16 January and ends at 10 pm on Sunday, 18 January.
- All acts selected are programmed across the festival days and are expected to be available for the entire Festival.
Participation Level
- Involvement in Folk School, sessions, singalongs, workshops, theme concerts, dances, parades and children's events where possible is a plus.
Music Style
- Folk-style acts are preferred, with minor inclusion of other musical elements.
- We generally don't book acts who solely perform other music genres.
Type of Performances
- Acts with workshops and theme presentations are always more favoured rather than just concert acts.
- Acts that can play for children and folk dancing are also sought, although not essential.
Price
- You need to indicate in the notes section if the fee proposed is negotiable as well.
Volunteering
- We will welcome and look favourably upon acts who will also contribute by helping make the festival happen! We always need MCs, Venue Managers, Instrument Lockup staff and many other tasks. So please also consider strongly about volunteering.
Support for the Folk Music Scene in Australia
- We also like to support acts that support their local and national folk music scene.

Audio and Video supporting evidence

We prefer online audio and video support material such as Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud, Act website, and Facebook Artist Page (not personal). Live performance footage is preferred so we can see you in action!

Sound Systems and Band Volumes

This is a traditional style folk festival with audience members of all ages, and many venues are close to each other. Therefore the sound systems provided are not large and powerful but more for clarity and reinforcement. The production team may intervene if stage volumes are high and are interfering with other venues. Please consider before applying if you are a loud band.

Application Form Enquiries and Issues: artists@illawarrafolkfestival.com.au

ARTIST APPLICATION FORM

Act Name *

Enter the exact name as it would appear in the program.

Contact Role *

Please indicate whether you are a manager/agent or a performer

Agency

Please enter the agency name, if applicable. Should your act be selected, we will collect primary contact details for them.
DO NOT the complete the next entry if you are a self-managed artist applicant.

Applicant contact details

First Name *

Last Name *

Email *

Mobile or Phone *

Street Address *

City *

State *

Postcode *

Artist Biography *

Please provide a short bio for your act. If selected, this will be used to promote you on our website, social media and printed program.

50 words max.

Artist Pitch *

This is your opportunity to pitch to the festival selectors why we should book your act. Describe your live performance, musical style, experience, history, etc and how you would suit playing for our folk festival.

Other Events

What other folk music events have you recently performed at?

Application Type *

Please select the appropriate option

Artist Press Photo *

Please upload an up-to-date photo of your act for inclusion in the festival program

Home Base *

Where is your act normally based?
This information must be correct as it affects the terms and conditions of contracting, accommodation and logistics.

Country (default is Australia)

Please enter the country of residence.

Support Material

We prefer auditioning by streaming sources such as Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud, Instagram or Facebook Artist Pages etc – Please link directly to a Youtube video, not to your channel.

Website

Youtube

Spotify

Facebook Artist Page

Instagram

Soundcloud

If you only offer a General Concert, DO NOT complete the following section.

Workshops

Are you willing to offer a Workshop at the Folk School and/or during the Festival?
Indicate your preference and provide details in the Other Performances below.

Performance/Workshop Other -Title

Click on the + Add another to add additional types of performances on offer.
Please enter the name of the performance.

Please enter a brief description of the performance/workshop, including relevant details such as duration, age group for children's shows, ability levels for workshops, callers for dances, etc

Performance/Workshop Other -Description

Add another (Max 3)

_________________________________________________________

Requested Fee *

Your requested fee should be for the entire festival, not per performance. We generally program featured acts for 3 performances over the festival duration. Please quote your fee including GST. When considering your fee, please remember that the Illawarra Folk Festival is a small, self-funded, not-for-profit Festival run by volunteers. Please read the information at the beginning of this form for more details on fee suggestions.

Enter your requested fee as numbers only. This field will not accept text nor the $ symbol. If you are offering a free performance, enter 0 as the requested fee.

Single Performance *

For local (Illawarra region acts) - would you like to be considered for a single performance spot (30 to 45 minutes)?

Availability *

Artists are usually booked on the basis that they will be available for the whole weekend and be flexible enough to make anywhere from 2 - 3 appearances in concerts and workshops.

Charity Night Availability *

On Thursday 15th January (Festival Eve!), we will host a Charity Concert at the festival grounds. Please indicate whether you are available and willing to donate a set to this event. It's a great night, with many of the festival volunteers and regulars attending. The nominated charity for 2026 is TBC. The 2025 festival raised funds for Support Act.

Number of performers *

Applications will only be considered from acts that have nominated the number of performers in their line-up.
If you are applying as a solo performer, enter ''1''. The number entered here determines how many performer contacts can be added and weekend passes allocated.

Act performers *

Please list all other performers and their roles in your act

We will collect the contact details of other performers after contracting.

Other Acts *

Are any of the performers in this act also applying in another act(s)?
If Yes, please add the Act names in the following text box.

Acts Other

List performers who are in other Acts applying for the festival: one performer/act per line.

Stage Plan *

(MAX SIZE 5MB)

Please upload an accurate stage plot of your act's live set up. This should reflect the number of performers you have indicated in the field above, instruments used and technical requirements. This is essential to the selection and programming process. Please upload in a PDF format.

Accommodation *

Should your act be booked to perform in 2026, please indicate your likely accommodation option.

Superannuation *

Are you an individual, ie a Sole Trader (NOT a company, band, agent, partnership, association or trust)?

If so, the festival would provide a superannuation payment based upon on the labour component of the proposed fee to the Sole Traders nominated superannuation fund

Yes

Public Liability by Artist *

It is a requirement of the Festival's public liability insurance that all members of a paid act must be covered by either an “act” policy that clearly states that all members of the act are covered or each individual member must have their own insurance cover.

If your act is selected, you will be required to forward proof of public liability insurance as part of the contract acceptance process. The minimum required level of indemnity for any one occurrence is AUD$20,000,000.

The Certificate of Public Liability Insurance MUST explicitly state the name of the act or performers covered and also that it covers public performance activities. If you are offering a workshop, it must state that it covers this activity also. A business policy that does not explicitly state that it covers performance will not be accepted.
If your current certificate expires before the 2026 Festival, we will still require a copy of this and a copy of the new certificate when you renew your policy.

If a performance fee is requested, please select YES to show that you understand and accept that every member of the act will be required to have public liability insurance cover with a minimum level of indemnity for any one occurrence of AUD$20,000,000.

Yes

PLI Coverage by IFF

I am uninsured and would like to arrange $20 Million PLI coverage through the Illawarra Folk Festival at our cost (amount TBA)

Yes

Previous Years *

Has your act played at Illawarra Folk Festival within the last two years (2024, 2025)?

Yes

Acceptance *

As the primary contact and/or act representative, I confirm that:

I am responsible for supplying all act information.

I confirm that my act will be considered by the selection committee on the availability details and performer member numbers provided by me at this time and that any changes to these details may result in an offer to perform being revoked.

I acknowledge that I will not receive communication about the outcome of this application until the end of June 2025.

Yes

Please be patient once you've clicked the SUBMIT button.

The data is sent immediately, but depending on your connection, the response in your browser may be delayed. Clicking SUBMIT a second time will create another application.

The personal data supplied as part of this submission will be stored and processed by Illawarra Folk Club Inc in order to facilitate your entry to and attendance at the Festival; for example printing your access tickets, arrivals information and delivery lists. The personal data you supply will never be sold to any third parties but may be shared with contractors providing services to the event. Your data will be retained for a maximum of 5 years before being securely deleted. The full Privacy Policy for the Festival, which explains the rights of data subjects in relation to the data they share with us can be found here: https://www.festivalpro.com/privacypolicy.html/