Entertainment
24 November, 2023
Small Halls at Machans
CONSIDERED the best touring regional festival of folk and contemporary music, Festival of Small Halls will arrive in Cairns for the first time next Tuesday, November 28.
Fittingly, you can see Festival of Small Halls at the historic Machans Beach Community Hall for a magical night of music and history.
Organised by not-for-profit Woodfordia, the Festival of Small Halls takes some of the best national and international folk artists across regional halls in Australia.
This year for the first time the tour is making a stop in Cairns at the Machans Beach Hall next Tuesday, before visiting Innisfail on Wednesday.
Traditional Scottish folk band Assynt, Brisbane singer-songwriter Jackie Marshall, and Machans Beach own Wind and Wood will be the acts performing on the night from 6.30pm.
“The Machans Beach Community Hall is the only one in the regional council area that is owned and operated by a community group and not by council; we’re very proud of our hall and we’re excited to be chosen,” said Machans Beach Community Association member Val Schier.
“For many decades the hall was the centre of the community, people would celebrate their weddings and birthdays there, it links people in the community and Machans Beach is very proud of the strong community spirit it has, so we’re looking forward to it.”
Half of the folk duo Wind and Wood who will be opening the festival, Morag Gane said the event had brought the whole community together.
“We’re keeping a bit of a Celtic theme, our international guests are Scottish and so am I, our local coffee shop Mayhem at Machans, whose owner is Scottish as well, will do the catering for the night and he’s bringing a Scottish menu and we’ll have drinks as well, so it’ll be one of those big Machans events,” Ms Gane said.
“Doors open at 6pm and the show begins at 6.30pm, we’ll start with a Welcome to Country, a little history of the hall, and we start playing at 7pm. After a break, Jackie Marshall will perform followed by Assynt after a break so people will have time to enjoy food and drinks.”
Ms Schier said it was an honour to showcase the historic hall through the regional festival.
“The Machans Hall is made in an old Queenslander style, it’s made out of vertical boards with exposed beams and wooden floors so it’s a beautiful looking little place,” she said.
“The locals are very excited that something of this calibre is coming to Machans Beach and we can’t wait.”
Tickets are available for $30 at the Festival of Small Halls website at www.festivalofsmallhalls.com
