Excitement for this year’s Woodford Folk Festival is steadily building, with organisers anticipating another successful event drawing an aggregate attendance of 126,000 people over the six days of the festival.

They’ve also decided that now is as good a time as any to unveil a secret they’ve been sitting on for three whole years in order to celebrate the iconic Australian music festival’s 30th anniversary.

It turns out the 30th anniversary festival poster is in fact the third and final instalment in a single panoramic artwork. The splendours triptych has been three years in the making by artist-in-residence, Gavin Ryan.

Fans can now check out a time-lapse video that shows the evolution of Gavin’s triptych. According to Festival Director Bill Hauritz, the work will have profound consequences at the event way beyond the production of the triptych itself.

“Patrons this year will really notice the huge lift in the visual impact and atmospherics at the festival. It’s the culmination of three year’s work and people will be moved – this is the year,” he said.

“Our last three Festivals have held common threads within the Festival themes- an exploration of our identity as individuals and then relating this to a broader community context.”

“Gavin’s illustrations have brought these ideas to life. It has been wonderful working together and it’s been hard containing our excitement.”

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