About us
St Albans Folk Festival is held annually over three days and two nights on the weekend closest to the Anzac Day public holiday in the village of St Albans, in the Hawkesbury region of NSW, Australia. We host a wide range of musicians, dancers, poets, and singers who perform traditional and contemporary folk, from Australia and further afield.
The first “Snalbans” Festival was held in 1980, and 2026 will be our 46th anniversary and the 41st Festival to go ahead (there were no Festivals in 1990, 1991, 2015 due to flooding, or 2020-22 due to COVID).
We begin each Festival with a Welcome to Country hosted by the Darkinjung mob on the sandbank of the Macdonald River.
A truly friendly festival, St Albans welcomes patrons of all ages. As well as performances from over 40 acts, attendees can join in at workshops, or music and dance sessions. Special activities and workshops are scheduled just for children. The Festival market showcases local food, produce, and instrument makers.
Framed by the dramatic scenery of the Macdonald Valley, the Festival is held in the picturesque village of St Albans itself. Performances are staged in historic venues including the Settlers Arms, a Georgian coach house built in 1836; the church of Saint Alban the Martyr, built in 1897; as well as in the local School of Arts, built in 1936.
Over the course of the weekend the population of St Albans more than quintuples as up to 800 patrons, 100 performers, and 100 volunteers come together to be part of the Festival build, festivities, and the pack down.