BACKYARD BILLETING
Woonona local Ben Anderson has been providing home-stay billets for Illawarra Folk Festival performers at his family property since he started coming to the festival in 2016.
Ben lives with his wife Sarah and son Tom in Woonona. However, the family property on Popes Road isn’t your usual suburban block.
Stretching across the foothill of the Woonona escarpment, their backyard is littered with persimmons, finger limes, apricots, mangoes and figs. With around 50 fruit trees and a well-tended garden, Ben and wife Sarah run Popes Produce- an urban market garden at the property.
Among the greenery, nestled into the landscape are a myriad of unique dwellings that have welcomed many a folk festival performer into the carefully grown garden.
“I’d never been to the Folk Festival before. And then the first time I attended, I went; ‘oh my God, I'm going to this every year. This is amazing.’ I don't think we've missed one since,” Ben said.
Now the Illawarra Folk Festival is an annual feature in the family calendar, and having performers stay at their home is part of the event.
“We've been billeting since the year after we first went, so we’ve had quite a few artists stay,” Ben said.
“It's nice being a conduit for bringing people together.”
With a heart for the community and a great space to host, Ben found that billeting artists is one way that he can support the volunteer-run Illawarra Folk Festival from behind the scenes.
“The folkie is such a great thing for the local region, and for artists…it’s so valuable and we should all do anything we can to help it run along,” he said.
Over the years, Popes Produce has seen international artists from Gabon on the coast of Central Africa, national artists, hippie trios and a performer wielding a 20-string instrument.
“You build nice connections. If we ever go to Gabon, we're welcome to go and stay with those guys. I would say it's a rewarding thing to do,” Ben said.
“It's sort of inspiring too, connecting with 'em and hearing their stories. Finding out how they got to where they are and where they want to go”.
Ben himself is a drummer in Wollongong contemporary acoustic folk-rock fusion band: Love in the Jungle. The band has often performed at the Illawarra Folk Festival, and are a fond favourite in the local music scene. Ben and Sarah have signed up to billet performers again this year, and you can catch them around the festival.
Interested in Billeting? Not only can it be a great experience, there are also perks! Get free season passes to the festival along with complimentary vouchers to use at the festival bar! Check out all the details on the website here.
Story by Illawarra Folk Festival Publicity Officer Skyla Yorke.