The Cygnet Folk Festival is one of Australia’s most iconic folk music festivals. It has been delivering the event for 40 years and tickets regularly sell out. The tourism impact is significant with accommodation sold out in the region months in advance. The Cygnet Folk Festival management identified an opportunity to grow event attendance by creating a new discrete event during the festival weekend to appeal to a family demographic with one-day ticket sales.

“The Meeting Place” was a discrete space within the Cygnet Folk Festival, with a fully fenced safe space for families to enjoy with roving performers and child-friendly activities, including face-painting, circus activities, stilt-walkers and food and drink stalls. The festival contracted Tin Camp Studios, an Indigenous-led project developed by Warren Mason, to deliver storytelling, workshops and music performances within a tin shed constructed from salvaged materials and modelled on typical 1950s Aboriginal housing.

This new venue allowed patrons to experience a part of the festival, meet with friends in a safe and relaxed environment and the opportunity to listen and learn from presenters at Tin Camp. It allowed patrons to experience a part of the festival for a substantially reduced financial commitment in addition to entry for regular ticket holders.

With the support of the Cultural Tourism Generator, the Cygnet Folk Festival was able to attract over 1.5x the grant funding in ticket and bar sales. The project provided 62 employment opportunities, and 6 professional development opportunities. With the aim of the project to give families a ‘taster’ of the festival and grow audiences for future years, the impacts of this project will continue to be felt over the coming years.

This project was funded by a Cultural Tourism Generator grant, an extension of the Cultural Tourism Accelerator Program. The Cultural Tourism Accelerator Program was an Australian Government initiative delivered through the Regional Arts Fund to help strengthen local visitor economies. The Program sought to increase tourism visitation in regional, rural, and remote communities across Australia, by providing financial support for the promotion of arts and cultural activities.