Alana Wilkinson & Ryan Young Lead Festival Of Small Halls 2024 Summer Tour

The Festival of Small Halls, Australia’s most extensive regional music tour, is returning in the summer of 2024.

Scottish fiddle player Ryan Young and Australia’s Alana Wilkinson are the first names to be announced, featuring on the upcoming Summer Tour 2024: Woodford Folk Festival to Illawarra Folk Festival. The festival, presented by the hard-working team behind Woodford Folk Festival (Woodfordia Inc), will be taken to rural, regional and remote areas of the country for the 37th time.

The upcoming Festival of Small Halls begins on 27th December - 1st January at the Woodford Folk Festival, before spending January in Yetman, Ashford, Currabubula, Orange, Woodstock, Dalton, Goulburn, Galong, Humula, Pambula, Pyree, the Illawarra Folk Festival, Broke, Bobin, Coramba, Whiporie and Wardell. You can find all the dates below.

“The Festival of Small Halls is a pinnacle for touring-celebrating and fostering community spirit, resilience, and passion,” Festival of Small Halls Community Producer Isobel Bartlett commented in a press release. “We’re so grateful to be welcomed into these amazing small towns and to put shows on with our incredibly talented dynamic artists. Together, we forge events that are retold as stories from the drive home to the dinner table for years to come.”

Wilkinson said she’s “over the moon” heading out on the Small Halls tour with her mate, Ryan Young. “Something very special happens when music veers off the beaten tour track and settles into regional towns,” the Northern Rivers-based folk-pop meets punk poet said. “These shows provide the most beautiful, intimate setting for artists and audiences to connect, and I'm honoured to be sharing my songs and stories in this incredible way.”

Young, 2022 MG ALBA Musician of The Year nominee, fresh off releasing his latest album, Just A Second, is delighted to be a part of the grassroots touring model of Small Halls.

He said, “I have long wanted to tour in Australia and see this model of grassroots touring as a wonderful way to get a real sense of the communities, landscapes, and cultures in beautiful New South Wales.

“I am really excited to share the traditional music of Scotland with audiences, and I look forward to learning from and sharing with all those we encounter along the way, including the talented Alana Wilkinson.”

Tickets to the 2024 Festival of Small Halls tour are on sale now via the website – prices vary by location.

FESTIVAL OF SMALL HALLS

Tour Location Details

27 Dec to 1 Jan – Woodford Folk Festival, Woodford, Queensland

3 Jan – Yetman, Yetman Memorial Hall

4 Jan – Ashford, Ashford Memorial Hall

5 Jan – Currabubula, Currabubula War Memorial Hall

6 Jan – TBC, TBC

7 Jan – Orange, Bloomfield Hall

10 Jan – Woodstock, Woodstock Soldiers Memorial Hall

11 Jan – Dalton, Dalton Public Hall

12 Jan – Goulburn, St Saviours Cathedral Hall

13 Jan – Galong, Galong Memorial Hall

14 Jan – Humula, Humula Memorial Hall

17 Jan – Pambula, Pambula Town Hall

18 Jan – Pyree, Pyree Hall

19 Jan – 21 Jan - Illawarra Folk Festival, Bulli, New South Wales

24 Jan – Broke, Broke Community Hall

25 Jan – Bobin, Venue TBC

26 Jan – Coramba, Coramba Community Hall

27 Jan – Whiporie, Whiporie Community Hall

28 Jan – Wardell, Wardell Memorial Hall