Port Fairy Folk Festival has today announced renowned local programmer Justin Rudge as its new Program Director.
Rudge, who has previously worked in festival and venue programming, tour promotion, artist management and a variety of community, government and industry projects, will commence work on the 2021 edition of the Victorian music festival.
"To be only the third person to hold this position after founder Jamie McKew and most recently, the inspiring Caroline Moore, is a significant milestone in my career. I am looking forward to continuing the amazing musical, cultural and community traditions they have developed over the previous 44 years," Rudge said.
"Like the dedicated and loyal festival audience, I share a passion for live music across many genres, and am so excited to bring my experience to such an iconic festival."
Port Fairy's 2020 event went ahead just weeks before Australia went into lockdown due to the COVID pandemic.
"While live music events worldwide face enormous challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 global crisis, I am excited to start planning next year’s festival and am confident we can face these challenges and provide the Port Fairy and folk communities with an unforgettable experience in 2021," Rudge said.
Port Fairy Folk Festival President John Young said the team were "very impressed" with Rudge's background and experience, which has seen him work with a number of big international events like Tonder Festival (Denmark), East Coast Music Association Conference (Canada) and AmericanaFest (USA), as well as BIGSOUND in Australia.
"Justin brings with him a wealth of experience, inspiration and ideas with community and folk music at the core," Young said.
"We are excited to be continuing the extraordinary work his predecessors, Jamie and Caroline, have done and are thrilled to be passing the baton onto Justin to deep dive into the planning of our world-renowned festival."
The 45th Port Fairy Folk Festival will take place 5-8 March 2021 with the program expected to be announced later this year.
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