Tickets can be purchased online through TryBooking using your credit/debit Visa, Mastercard or Amex card, or via Paypal.  There is a TryBooking transaction fee of 50c per ticket. If you would prefer to buy your tickets through our Box Office, an additional $5 admin fee per transaction applies, in addition to the 50c per ticket fee. Please email [email protected] or call 03 5568 2227.

Initially only full festival 4 day tickets will be available.  Other ticket types may become available closer to the festival.

The Port Fairy Folk Festival is held on the Victorian Labour Day long weekend in March. The festival is a four day event and your ticket entitles you entry to all concerts and activities for the duration of your ticket type (full or ‘half festival’).

Hours are:
Friday 5:30 pm – 1:00 am
Saturday & Sunday 8:00 am – 1:00 am
Monday 8:00 am – 2:00 pm

The Festival presents a wide range of programs for children of all ages. Including concerts, storytelling, circus activities, art and craft, dance and music workshops, and comedy. Within the arena there are 3 dedicated children/family friendly performance/activity areas.

Port Fairy is a small town of 3,000 residents and motel/hotel/house rental is at a premium during the festival weekend. There are many other accommodation options, mostly for camping. This includes Southcombe Caravan Park (adjoins the Festival Arena), Rent a Tent (500 metres from the Arena), Gardens Caravan Park, Showgrounds Camping and many other caravan parks. Check out our Accommodation page for more options. Alternatively, Warrnambool is 28km from Port Fairy and with a population of 34,000, it offers a wide range of accommodation options.

You should receive an email from TryBooking within minutes of purchasing your tickets (check your spam or promotions folders).  If you need to have the email re-sent, go to: https://www.trybooking.com/lost-tickets or contact our Box Office via [email protected].

A ticket to the Port Fairy Folk Festival is exchanged for a wristband. This provides admission into the Festival Arena and other venues throughout the town. It entitles you to attend all of our performances, concerts, workshops, dancing, instrument makers exhibition and more!  Our venues do have a maximum capacity for the safety of all patrons, so there may be times where people cannot enter a venue due to it being at full capacity. Artists perform multiple times over the weekend.

Yes. All tickets are exchanged for a wristband.  This wristband gets you access to the Festival Arena and other venues throughout Port Fairy.  Please bring your BARCODED TICKET either on your smartphone or printed out so it can be scanned.

No. Each individual person must come to the ticket exchange to have their wristband fitted.

The Ticket Exchange is located at the Southcombe Park Stadium next to the Folk Festival Arena on Campbell St.

The Ticket Exchange
Southcombe Park Basketball Stadium
Hours
Fri 9:00am-11:00pm
Sat 9:00am – 10:00pm
Sun 9:00am – 2:00pm
Sun 2:00 – 8:00pm (moves to Front foyer)

Youth tickets can only be purchased in conjunction with an adult ticket or by an adult who has already purchased a ticket.  For more info, check out our ticket terms and conditions.

Children 12 and under will continue to be free, but we require a children to be ‘registered’ at the time of purchase of adult tickets to adhere to potential capacity requirements. Tickets for children 12 and under can also be registered at any time after the adult ticket has been purchased through TryBooking.  Bring your child/ren with you when you go to the ticket exchange to get your wristband and we will also put a wristband on your child/ren. We also recommend writing your phone number on the wrist band for younger children in case you become separated.

No. Wristbands are not transferable. Wristbands must remain intact to gain entrance to the Event. Damage to a wristband (even if accidental) will render it invalid and access to the venue denied, unless the Ticketing Manager or security staff approves a replacement.

If we still have tickets available, and you want to buy a ticket during the Port Fairy Folk Festival, you can purchase tickets at the Ticket Exchange.

Go to our website www.portfairyfolkfestival.com and type in your details under E-NEWS SIGN UP. If you are already subscribed it will take you to another page where you can either unsubscribe or change your email address. Alternatively, you can scroll to the very end of an e-news you have already received from us, and select update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. This will take you to your unique contact page where you can change your details. Contact our office if you have any issues or need help. Please note that due to GDPR laws the PFFF is unable to make direct changes to details on individual subscriptions.

Yes you can.  Most of our large venues now have seating – this has changed a lot over the past few years. For venues that have partial or no seating, low chairs are permitted at the front within the white lines and high chairs at the rear in the area marked by red lines. There is no maximum height requirement for BYO chairs.

Once you have purchased your ticket, email or post a copy of your companion card, along with your name and phone number and your ticket reference number, and we can process the companion ticket at no charge.

V/line operates trains and buses to Port Fairy from Melbourne, Ballarat, Ararat and Mt Gambier. Transit South West also operate buses from Warrnambool to Port Fairy.

The Festival offers a Festival Bus Service between Warrnambool and the Festival and also Gum Tree Caravan Park and the Festival.

There is also a Festival Shuttle Bus that does a circuit of the town every 30 minutes, finishing at the Festival Arena. This bus operates regularly throughout the Festival and we ask for a gold coin donation. The Shuttle Bus is a low floor bus with pram and wheel chair access.

Parking near the arena is extremely limited, and road closures are implemented during the festival period. There is a Festival Shuttle Bus which operates every 30 minutes and does a complete circuit of Port Fairy to the Festival.

Dedicated accessible parking is located in Campbell Street at the front gate of the Festival Arena, within the road block. Those with an appropriate permit will be given access to these parks by volunteer staff who will be in attendance.

You are welcome to bring your own food and soft drinks to the festival. But there is a strict no BYO alcohol policy. Within the Festival Arena there are two licensed areas, the Shebeen and The Speakeasy. Children under 18 are permitted in these areas when accompanied by a parent or guardian.

You can fill your water bottle with great tasting water at dedicated water fountains located throughout the arena.  We encourage you to bring your own refillable water bottle, as we are working towards eliminating single use plastic.

The program schedule will be emailed to all ticket holders and published online in February. The scheduled program and artist profiles are also published in the Souvenir Program which you receive when you exchange your ticket for a wristband.

We are planning  to hold a full capacity ‘regular’ Port Fairy Folk Festival in March 2023, under relevant government health regulations in place at that time.

 

We will be selling tickets to our regular full capacity.  If you wish to attend the festival in 2023, we advise you to buy tickets as early as possible to avoid missing out.

 

We will adapt our lineup to adjust if international artists performing becomes unrealistic as we progress along programming timelines.

If you are unable to attend due to state/national border restrictions by law, we will issue you a refund based on the restrictions in place based on your postcode/ZIP code, in line with our 90% refund policy- please see below.

 

We are planning for a full program of 100+ performances across the March long weekend in 2023.

 

In the event that we are forced to cancel, we will give you a 90% refund of the ticket purchase price, minus the booking fee. Ten percent of your ticket purchase price will be retained so that contractors and artists are paid their retainers, if not their full contracted rate.

 

In line with the State Government of Victoria’s health policy, all persons attending the Port Fairy Folk Festival site leading up to and during the main event in March 2023 will be required to follow all government guidelines, requirements, and recommendations for events at the time of the festival. Ticket holders, artists, volunteers and contractors will also be required to follow said guidelines.

 

At this stage, we have a good level of confidence that if international touring isn’t able to proceed in 2023, we will provide a high quality Australian lineup.

 

Yes, youth tickets are available.  Children 12 and under will continue to be free, but we require children to be ‘registered’ at the time of purchase of adult tickets to adhere to potential capacity requirements.

 

Only four day tickets will be available for 2023, however this may change again for 2024.

 

We work diligently with all authorities to ensure a safe and compliant event every year.  In 2022, we worked diligently with DHHS and Victorian Government in consultation with qualified professionals to develop our COVID safe plan.  Due to frequently changing govt directives and  requirements, our covid plan is continually being updated to ensure we provide the safest environment possible

 

No, we currently do not have concession tickets available for Port Fairy Folk Festvial. However, our ticket sales work in a tiered ticket release system, so discounted tickets are available if you get in early. See ticketing tiers here

 

The only animals allowed in the festvial arena are assistance animals. This includes Guide Dogs, Seeing Eye Dogs, Lions Hearing Dogs, Autism Assistance Dogs and Physical Disability Service Dogs. The animals should be wearing a harness, lead or a coat identifying them as assistance animals.