09/12/2025
Growing up alongside what began as a humble music gathering and evolved into one of Australia’s largest multicultural festivals was nothing short of transformative. For all of us Folkie kids of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, Woodford wasn’t just an event we attended, it was a world we grew up in.
We watched something small become something extraordinary. We were exposed to cultures from every corner of the world, to music and art in forms we didn’t know existed, to creativity, compassion, business, community, and yes, even the occasional ego. Without ever leaving Australia, we were given a global perspective. It helped shape us into more open, curious, and diverse humans. It gave us, at least for me, a “big-picture” way of moving through the world.
In his later years, Bill once told me to be “over-ambitious.” I still don’t know exactly where that advice will lead me, but maybe that’s the point. Woodford was built on ambition, on dreaming bigger than seemed reasonable, on believing in what didn’t exist yet.
Here’s to Bill, and to the dreams that grow far beyond the size they start. May we all stay just a little bit over-ambitious in his honour. 🌿✨🎶
Folkie kid for life
Vale Bill Hauritz AM
Visionary Founder of Woodford Folk Festival and Woodfordia
With great sadness, we announce the passing of Bill Hauritz AM, founder of the Woodford Folk Festival and Woodfordia. A cultural leader, fierce optimist and creative visionary, Bill transformed the landscape of Australian festivals and community life.
Bill’s journey began with a deep love of folk music. In his early years, it was through tunes, song and story that he found connection, and came to understand the power of culture to bring people together, spark dialogue and build community. That passion for folk music remained at the heart of everything he created.
From the Maleny Folk Festival’s humble beginnings in 1987 to the creation of the 500-acre cultural parkland Woodfordia, Bill’s belief in the arts as a unifying, transformative force never wavered. His work gave rise to one of Australia’s most beloved celebrations of music, ideas and community, the Woodford Folk Festival, drawing over 120,000 people annually to a six-day village of creativity and connection.
Under Bill’s leadership, Woodfordia became a living, breathing expression of what a better world might feel like. His vision extended far beyond event-making. It was rooted in environmental stewardship, respect for Indigenous culture, intergenerational knowledge-sharing, and the protection and celebration of intangible cultural heritage, and a deep faith in humanity.
In 2023, this vision was formally recognised on the world stage, when UNESCO presented Woodfordia with the Intangible Cultural Heritage Award at the Jeonju International Awards for Promoting Intangible Cultural Heritage. This honour reflected Bill’s tireless and loving commitment to fostering living traditions through community, creativity and care. Yet it was his humility, humour and sincere belief in people that made him most loved.
Bill didn’t just think in festivals or years. He dreamed in centuries. One of his most remarkable contributions was the creation of Woodfordia’s 500-Year Plan, an audacious, living document that imagines a future shaped by care for country, community and creativity. While others planned for seasons, Bill planned for generations, planting trees whose shade he would never sit under, building cultural systems designed to last. It was both a poetic gesture and a practical blueprint, and it stands today as one of the most enduring expressions of his belief that the best way to shape the future is to start building it now.
Bill was also recognised as a Queensland Great, received the Order of Australia (AM), and was honoured as a Smithsonian Fellow, acknowledging his outstanding contribution to the cultural fabric of Australia and beyond.
Bill is deeply mourned by his wife Ingrid, sons Tom and Jack, daughter-in-law Mel, and grandchildren Elke and Stellan, alongside the extended Woodfordia family of organisers, artists, volunteers and festivalgoers whose lives he helped shape. He was so loved.
Amanda Jackes
