The Committee of Bush Traditions has decided to withdraw from running folk community based events and to focus attention on the database of collected tunes currently at bushtraditions.wiki. What does this mean for the folk community that have supported and enjoyed the events previously run by Bush Traditions?

The Gatherings

Apart from the COVID hiatus the Spring Gathering has been held since 2006 as an annual event that many in the Australian folk community look forward to for its musical and social benefits.

The Bush Traditions website carries testimony to the people who have attended, the workshops and concerts that have been programmed, and implicitly the work that has gone on behind the scenes.

One aim of the Gatherings was to expose newer players to the experience of valued performers and folklorists. Some names that leap out of the list:

Bruce Watson, Chris Woodland, Dennis O’Keeffe*, Harry Gardiner*, Tom Walsh*, Alan Musgrove, Dave de Hugard, John Warner, Martyn Wyndham-Read, Jason Roweth, Greg O’Leary, Bob McInnes, Lyell Sayer, Shayne Kerr, Ian Hayden, Ingrid Wagnell,  Andy Baylor, Ralph Pride and Garry Shearston*. As well as committee members: Sandra Martens, Peter Ellis*, Don Brian, Rob Willis, Moir Holmes, Ray Mulligan, and yours truly.

The Gatherings will continue under another banner.

The Bundanoon DanceFest

The DanceFest is a major achievement of Bush Traditions and will be maintained and developed with a new incorporated management structure that is in train.

The Bundanoon DanceFest was established in 2009 following a successful dance excursion to Norfolk Island.  It has been recognised as a social dance event of international standard. There have been workshops on Australian Traditional, Australian Contemporary, Ballroom and Old Time, English Country Dance, Scottish Country Dance, Irish Ceilidh and Set Dance, American Contra, Estonian Dance, Bavarian Dance, and Scandinavian Dance. Additionally there have been feature workshops on Morris Dance, Line Dance, Quadrilles, Tango, Molly Dance, Blues Dance, and more.

The DanceFest will also continue.

Dave Johnson

Bush Traditions Inc Vice-President