Fun Folks Fund Folk!

It's been a tough couple of years for the Auckland Folk Festival, after COVID-19 limited the 2021 Festival and forced cancellation in 2022. However, nothing could have prepared us for the events of 27 January 2023. With a fully operational site and a record number of pre-sales, it was shaping up to be our biggest festival ever - a grand celebration of 50 years. However, around 1pm, with approximately 500 festival-goers on site, torrential and unrelenting rain commenced... and we watched as the rising floods wiped out the festival as we knew it. We lost all marquees and sound, with hundreds of people stranded and unable to attend due to the severe flooding in Auckland.

The aftermath of the event was very challenging, mainly from a financial and infrastructure standpoint. The marquees and other infrastructure pack-down was delayed and inevitably, the site was scarred by the pack-down. Litigating the financial process was complicated and required a great deal of work from the volunteer committee and support members. The festival held contingency funds for an event such as this one but such an extreme total loss event left its future in the balance.

The dust has now settled and we're looking to the future. It's unanimous - the 2024 Auckland Folk Festival will proceed. It might look a little different, but we'll get back on our feet. We need our community's support!