Following on from 2025's successful conference, we plan to run another in 2026. We expect it to be held at Canberra's Exhibition Park on Thursday 2 April, in association with the National Folk Festival held over Easter (2-6 April). The conference is free. We will be asking attendees to register, so we know the numbers to expect. When registrations open, those on our mailing list will be informed.
If you would like to have a presentation considered please send the following details to ausfolklore@gmail.com
Your Name and brief biography
Title of presentation
Summary of your presentation (presentations run for thirty minutes, including any questions/comments)
The AFN conferences evolved from forums at the National Folk Festival and the National Library of Australia 2002-2003, with the first conference (called a ‘forum’) held at the NLA in 2004.
This section lists and provides links to details, and, where available, papers, Powerpoints and videos from previous conferences.
This historical collection is incomplete, so if you have any of the missing material, please contact us at ausfolklore@gmail.com
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
O. Sheets: The Kermiss Conman — Erica Nielsen Okamura Video Powerpoint & script
Artivism, Craftivism and Those Naughty Knitting Nannas — Rob & Olya Willis
Snow, Fire and Gold – the story of Bill Spargo and Evelyn Piper’s Life in the Australian Mountains — Stephen Whiteside Video The Book
Digging for Gold in the Trove Archive — Daniel Kelly Video Powerpoint
The Only Australian folktale – and it’s Irish! — Jo Henwood Video Paper Powerpoint Elements of the Tale Bibliography
Islands in a River: the Political Genealogy of two Australian ballads — Bob Fagan Video Powerpoint
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Historic Sources and Some Irish Music in Australia — Kevin Bradley
Goodness, Gracious! Australia’s Hidden Connection to the Origins of the Educational Folk Dance Movement for Schools & Playgrounds — Erica Nielsen Okamura
Dancing in Fetters: A Successful Museum Tour — Heather Blasdale Clarke
The Man, the Woman & the Edison Phonograph: Folklore Collecting, Race, Technology and Song — Bruce Watson Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Searching for Ron Edwards — Keith McKenry.
A Factory Lad: The Songs of Colin Dryden — Daniel Kelly
Giving Birth to ‘Waltzing Matilda’: A Forensic Analysis — W. Benjamin Lindner Video
Happy Ever After? A Quest for Australian Fairy Tales and Fairy Stories — Jo Henwood.
Historic Sources and Some Irish Music in Australia — Emma Gallagher
The Pandemic Play Project: documenting kids' culture during COVID-19 — Ruth Hazleton & Judy McKinty.
No conference in 2020, 2021 & 2022
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
The Jig Doll in Australian Folklore - Tony Smith Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Percy French Painting, Performance and Paddywhackery? - Gene Smith Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
The Collector and the Songwriter: The interaction of tradition and creativity — Bruce Watson Paper
I Didn't Raise My Son to be A Soldier - Tony Smith - Paper
The Early Days of the Bush Music Club as illustrated by Singabout - the Journal of Australian Folksong, 1956 to 1967 - Sandra Nixon. Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
I'm not a Toff, Just a Girl From the Bush — Peter Ellis Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Meeting the Very Friendly Giant: The American Folklore Society Conference, 2014 - Jeanette Mollenhauer Paper
Click Go the Shears and the 1891 Shearers' Strike - Mark Gregory Paper
We Were on the Cornwallis: An Exercise in Tracing the Provenance of Folk Tunes - Tony Smith Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Mr Vassillisis's Taksim — Peter Parkhill Paper
That Face on the Bar Room Floor: Kenny Goldstein and the Collection of Recitations in Australia — Hugh Anderson Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Substance and Style in Electronic Recording of Australian Children — Gwenda Beed Davey Paper
Collecting Children's Folklore — June Factor Paper
Click Go the Shears: The Making of an Australian Icon — Keith McKenry Paper
Indigenising the Documentation of Musical Cultural Practices: Torres Strait Islander Community CDs/DVDs — Karl Neuenfeldt Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
String Games in Australia — Judy McKinty Paper
Dog's Eye: The Meat Pie in Australian Tradition — Robert Smith Paper
The Creation of Waltzing Matilda — Dennis O'Keeffe Paper
Roast Pork the Bill Lang: Rhyming Slang in Australian Folk Speech — Graham Seal Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Industrial Song and Poetry in Australia: An Introduction — Mark Gregory Paper
Leaving Makes Me Sorrowful: Songs of Early Scots Gaelic Migrants to Australia’— Ruth Lee Martin Paper
Program: Summary of papers and presenter bio's
Australian Folk Music From Kitchen To Concert — Graeme Smith Paper
Where Did That Tune Come From?: Transmission of traditional music and song in Contemporary Australia — Ruth Hazleton Paper
Keep Him My Heart: Returning Music and Sense of Place to Top End Communities — Jeff Corfield Paper
Sydney: Brash, Bold and Beautiful: The Sydney Folklore Project — Warren Fahey Paper
1st AFN Forum & Conference Programs and reviews from 2005-2011