The Woolly West Fest takes place in the Western District in the Shire of the Southern Grampians, and some say that it’s the largest community arts project (in spread) in Victoria and possibly even Australia. Festivities take place in ten towns during a two week period. The focus is a celebration of all things woolly and early childhood literacy. The creators Jacinta Wareham is the Knitwit and Naomi Turner is the Litwit.

Wearing my early childhood hat, I packed the big story basket and had fun in the Hamilton Library with a crowd of ankle biters - my people.

Teaming up with storytelling buddy Kate Lawrence, we offered a joint evening of stories for adults. Kate and I have known each other for a few years now and although our interests take us in different directions our work is complimentary. Kate established StoryWise Women, the only women’s only personal storytelling open mike in Melbourne and has written and performs a show titled Fantastic Feminist Folk Tales. I love hanging out with Kate so needless to say, we had fabulous time in Hamilton.

I love (yes ‘love’ is the word) regional festivals. The welcome is always warm and sincere, the conversations enlightening and the stories often deeply moving. Meeting Jacinta’s Knitwits or ‘the posse’ as they are sometimes known was revelatory. These women, mostly in their 7th decade and beyond, are full of stories. It’s the posse that yarn bombs the towns and creates the woolly exhibition pieces.

The skill of the Knitwits, their humour and resilience not to mention their casserole cooking skills is fast becoming the stuff of legend.

I’ve always loved radio and my tastes are tragically rigid; the dial never moves from ABC RN. I adore recording studios, all that wood, the knobs and dials and that strange acoustic. I love the idea of stories and music beaming out into the world into the ears of people driving, gardening, washing the dishes … doing whatever.

So I was pretty thrilled when Sarah L’Estrange from ABC RN approached me and Sarah about being part of an audio documentary on the history of the Wardian case. Like YES!

Despite being overdressed (the studio thermostat is set at ‘equatorial’) and over excited, we managed to record ‘The Amazing Case of Dr Ward’ in its integrated state and then Sarah recorded all the musical stings and then I recorded the story without music. In this way the editor could cut and paste the bits and pieces to their heart’s content.

‘The Wardian Case - The box that changed the world’ is now live. Our telling is only part of the doco. You will hear more stories about plant transportation through the voices of Luke Keogh - Historian, Stuart McCook - Professor of History, University of Guelph, Ontario Canada, Mark Nesbitt - Economic botanist, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Tansy Curtin - Curator, Bendigo Art Gallery, Debra Tyler - President, Waroona Historical Society, WA, Kulkarni Choolburra and Christopher Jakobi - Indigenous guides at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. ENJOY!

Winter is a popular time for festivals in Australia. In my neck of the woods there is a literary festival and a folk festival within two weeks of each other and being an author and a storyteller, I have been known to stick my nose into both. Community means a lot to me; it’s my where I find my strength and support; it’s where I test my ideas; it’s where I go when I feel broken and where I connect and collude with others who who have ideas and are sprouting flight feathers.

However it was the Newport Folk Festival that stretched my energies this year with singing (I’m a rather squeaky soprano in the Newport Community Choir), a children’s storytime with my friend Dharma, the pop-up Flock OZ, a show with Sarah, and I help organise and tell stories around the fire for the Saturday evening.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking but first...

To begin - Dharma’s family have been in the the book trade for decades; her dad co-foundered Readings, Melbourne’s premiere independent book store. Currently they have a business called JP Books. Although specialising in educational books, the front of the business is a gorgeous shop for children. Everlasting Books is an Alladin’s cave of titles for the very young through to young adult. For 10 years Dharma has hosted regular storytimes at Everlasting Books and as a result, she has the deepest and richest repertoire of stories and songs of anyone, anywhere! And we have a ball together every year at the Folk Festival.

For more years than I have fingers, I have, with the help of others, organised a storyteling evening in the old Newport Scout Hall, a retro gem that we all hope will live on forever. Draughty and probably leaky, it has a charm all of its own. A team of us, bake cakes, cook soup, light candles, stoke the fire and welcome festival goers to the hearth.

Fabled Nights by the Fire; vege soup served by Cam who also hosted and kept the wheels turning

My good friend Dave Davies, reciter of verse and short story

As well as all the storytelling and singing, the festival was happy for me to install the pop-up Flock OZ and prattle on about migratory shore birds and the importance of the local wetlands. A festival is the perfect place to engage community in this way.

So that’s Newport. Next festival is the Hamilton Woolly West Fest. Now this one is a hoot!