Meet the faithful folk who volunteer their time to ensure traditions still strike a chord

Unanderra musicians Kay Proudlove and Ben Davies’ long association with the Illawarra Folk Festival dates back more than two decades.

The pair wears many hats, even in their free time, giving garden gnomes glitzy makeovers and volunteering more than 300 hours to stage music festivals for the community.

The 38th festival kicks off at Bulli Showground on Friday, 17 January, running until Sunday.

Kay, who began performing at the festival aged 14, is now the festival’s co-artistic director and artist liaison, while Ben also has taken on multiple roles as the production manager, site manager and programming coordinator.

These days, Ben works as an audio engineer, producing for Sydney and interstate bands at his Wollongong studio, Silver Sound.

Kay is a full-time musician, theatre maker and writer with a successful theatre show, Dear Diary, which she toured around Australia in 2024. She will take the show to South Australia for the Adelaide Fringe Festival in February.

“I’m really proud of the Illawarra Folk Festival program and the diversity and the excitement around it this year,” Kay said.

“Folk music, in a lot of ways, is still seen as an older person’s game. It’s not seen as something for youth.

“In a lot of groups we have the core folkies, like the young people who go round to lots of festivals and do that.

“But I think that if no-one steps up from our generation, if no-one steps up into the shoes of people who have been running it for such a long time, then it’s just going to leave.

“Folk music needs to continue. That style of storytelling, that style of performance, that style of community, it’s all really important. And so carrying that forward or doing my part to carry that forward motivates me.”

Ben shares that sentiment and is looking forward to the lineup and the look of the upcoming festival.

“It’s lovely to see people have a great time at the festival and to see young musicians getting a chance, getting exposed to new audiences,” he said.

“We’ve got Olivia Coggan playing this year – the daughter of well-known folk singer Darren Coggan. She’s also doing one of our great Southern Nights concerts a month after for the Illawarra Folk Club.

“My passion for the festival also extends to the site design element and seeing that team of volunteers flourish in building such amazing structures for people to enjoy.

“It’s fun, but also has a certain element of seriousness and safety, and I really enjoy the challenge of pulling them together.”

A few small changes are coming to the festival this year, ranging from shower curtains to a new venue.

“We’re bringing back an old favourite, the Black Diamond Marquee, but in a new location and hence renaming it Black Diamond Pavilion, so it has some sense of familiarity,” Ben said.

“It will be the second-largest venue at the festival this year, with 500 seats and ample standing room as well.

“I’m also excited and proud that our accessible venue count has increased to seven out of eight venues, with the Black Diamond Pavilion replacing the old upstairs restaurant venue. Making the festival more accessible is something that as a team, we’re all striving to improve.”

Ben and Kay currently live in Unanderra with their two (not so mini) dachshunds, Chilli and Pepper.

“We bought a house just before Christmas of 2019, so we just got in before the COVID lockdown round one, which resulted in losing all of our work for a year,” Ben said.

Having faced the challenge of working in the music industry during COVID lockdown is one of the reasons Ben is organising a Folk Festival Charity Concert to raise money for Support Act, a charity that offers crisis relief to music industry workers.

The charity concert will be held on Thursday, 16 January, at the Heritage Hotel in Bulli and features four acts from the festival – Smith and the Devil, Broken Creek, The Water Runners and Zumpa.

“Support Act helped us greatly in that first year of lockdown with bills and mortgage repayments,” Ben said.

”They also offer counselling and mental health support to musicians and creative workers, so it’s a charity that we’re both quite passionate about.”

The Illawarra Folk Festival is one of the largest volunteer-run festivals in Australia. With more than 85 acts across three days, Ben and Kay are keen to celebrate alongside the other “vollies”.

“There’s a real magic to the Sunday night final concert when all the volunteers get to let their hair down a little bit, myself included, and celebrate what we’ve achieved and the experience that everyone’s had,” Kay said.

Ben added: “We’re really grateful for all the volunteers that have given their time. It’s not just one person putting this festival together, it’s the many dedicated volunteers that all do their part to piece this monster together.

“We’re extremely grateful for everyone that’s involved. Whether young, older, veterans, or first-timers, every one counts towards the big picture.”

Click here for tickets and program information for the Illawarra Folk Festival and the charity concert.