Western Australia's longest-running and favourite music festival is back, and this year it is bigger than ever.
The 27th annual event will feature a regional hub showcasing some of the Peel region's best artists, performers and small business operators.
Organisers FolkWorld were granted $34,000 by the Building Better Regions federal funding grant to create a whole new look for the Festival that focuses on increasing the participation of local, regional artists in the festival.
Further aims of the project include strengthening the relationship with the Peel community, connecting with neighbours from other regions, highlighting local dance and street performer talents and creating a "regional flair".
Fairbridge is quite a community-driven type festival so it's in our interests to try and keep that traction with the Peel community as strong as we can.
- Fairbridge Festival artistic director Rod Vervest
Fairbridge Festival artistic director Rod Vervest said the local musicians and artists added to another "action-packed" lineup for the 2019 festival.
"Fairbridge managed to secure matched funding through the Building Better Regions program and we're using that fund to engage artists from the Peel region and they range from musicians to visual artists through to sculptors, crafts, street theatre, food vendors," he said.
"Fairbridge is quite a community-driven type festival so it's in our interests to try and keep that traction with the Peel community as strong as we can.
"It gives local artists an opportunity to come and see how they fit among a broader environment, they get a chance to see stuff from around the world and talk to other musicians and create networks and opportunities for themselves because of that."
Mr Vervest added that the Building Better Regions project would also lift the visual aesthetic of the festival with the art, craft and product precinct and stunning decorations
"The whole physical space will have quite a different feel ... the site will look substantially different from any other year," he said.
"When people come, they will see big sculptural installations and lots of colour on the street and street art and street theatre, lots of different entry statements to venues."
Set under the trees of the magical Fairbridge Village in Pinjarra, the festival will run from April 26-28 with crowds in their thousands expected to attend and enjoy three days of unique entertainment.
More than 150 acts will perform under marquees, under the stars and in some of the Village's historical buildings, displaying some of the best in folk, world and roots music.
The handcrafted program also includes dance acts, workshops and activities for all ages and colourful markets, food and drink stalls and campgrounds to suit everyone's budgets.
The 2019 festival will also feature an Italian theme with international artist Riccardo Tesi and his world folk fusion dance group set to take the stage to showcase some of the best contemporary Italian folk music.
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Mr Vervest, who travels the world to hand pick the talented lineup of musicians himself, said Tesi will be one of 10 international artists among a bunch of Aussie talent and a "local mix" on the lineup.
"Fairbridge is not a headline driven festival - everyone, whether they're local or international, come on the same bill," he said.
"People come for the whole festival, they come to discover stuff and find their next new favourite thing - that's the vibe of it and just because you haven't heard of it, doesn't mean it isn't popular."
But Mr Vervest said he particularly loved one very special and unique feature of Fairbridge Festival - its family-friendly atmosphere.
Presenting one of the largest children and youth programs for any festival in the country, Fairbridge has always stayed true to its vision of catering to the whole family.
"From the very first festival in 1993, there were six and seven year olds at that festival who are now coming to the festival with their own families, it's a generational cycle," Mr Vervest said.
"It's deeply cherished by the people who love it.
"The beating heart of Fairbridge is the children's program and if you look after the children and the youngsters, everything else falls into place beautifully
"A really unique feature is the diversity of age. It's not a standard music festival you go to where everyone looks the same - there are grandparents sitting with their grandkids in their laps while mum and dad have snuck off for a beer, that's the vibe at Fairbridge."
Fairbridge Festival will run from April 26-28 at Fairbridge Village on the South West Highway in Pinjarra.
For more information about the festival or to purchase tickets, visit the Fairbridge Festival website.