‘Exile’ Returns Home: Port Fairy Folk Festival 2018

14 February 2018. Updated 15 June 2018.

The live folk show ‘Exile: Songs & Tales of Irish Australia’ is part of the Port Fairy Folk Festival on Friday 9 March 2018.

Port Fairy is home to the largest concentration, per capita, of Irish migrants in Australia and in many ways, ‘Exile’ coming to PFFF2018 is a kind of homecoming.

The show features specially produced documentary visuals by Wind & Sky Productions.

Pauline Scanlan at the Port Fairy Folk Festival 2018. Photograph by David Harris, courtesy of Music World Media.

Ireland’s greatest export has been her people and for centuries, emigration and exile have been harsh, repeating themes of Irish history.

An astounding array of artists from Ireland and Australia gather in a moving celebration of the Irish impact on Australian life.

Through abundant literature, music, poetry and art, as well as a keen hunger for sport and justice, the Irish spirit has stamped itself on the evolving culture of Australia.

Almost a third of all Australians claim some degree of Irish descent and many Aboriginal Australians are also proud of their Irish ancestry. The enduring influence on Australian history, music and politics is recounted through rich imagery and stirring performances in this special concert event.

The most cataclysmic event of Irish history, An Gorta Mor, The Great Hunger, between 1846 and 1850, saw more than a million people die of starvation and disease and just as many flee in utter desperation, on boats to America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

There is no denying the contribution that the Irish have made to Australian life. It’s certainly varied but rarely dull.

‘Exile’ features specially commissioned documentary visuals by Wind & Sky Productions which are an integral part of the live experience in the show.

For more about Wind & Sky’s involvement in the show visit https://windsky.com.au/exile-songs-tales-of-irish-australia/

Tickets: http://www.portfairyfolkfestival.com/