We, the Australian people, love life and love to celebrate, whenever there is an opportunity. We also happen to be a country of many festivals, which are enjoyed by all Australians, regardless of their race, religion and culture, and this topic offers me a great opportunity to talk about one such festival of my country.

The name of this festival is the “National Folk Festival”. It is an Australian family-oriented celebration which is attended by a significant number of people from all over Australia. Being held in Melbourne for the first time in 1967, it has been taking place at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC) every Easter from Easter Thursday - Easter Monday, every year. It was inspired by the Newport Folk Festival in the United States, apparently in an effort to recognize the folk culture of Australian people, so that the people in my great country can gain valuable insight into their cultural identity through grassroots and community activities.

This also seems to be a festival which is renowned among players of traditional music as a place to go and meet their friends, see some excellent performances, and attend some workshops or training sessions with some of the best musicians in this half of the world. I also love to meet my friends and enjoy some performances.

Anyway, people celebrate this festival by organising concerts, a film festival, numerous impromptu street performances, workshops on making, playing and repairing musical instruments, visual art, storytelling and poetry, and many dance workshops. There are also many craft stalls on this festival site to introduce people to Australian handicraft works. The thing I love about the festival is the sense of community it creates. Everyone who attends is there to celebrate and enjoy the music and culture, and there is a real sense of camaraderie and shared experience among festival-goers.

Anyway, this is an important festival in my country because it allows regular Australian folks like us to understand and appreciate our cultural identity and features so that we can bring the much-needed sense of unity and solidarity among our people – people who come from different races, religions, cultures and backgrounds from all over the world. Besides, this festival also allows us to have some fun and a good time together with our friends and family while also learning about our folk culture at the same time.