After running the legendary Cardrona Folk Festival for 46 years, Martin & Kay left their beloved Cardrona Valley and settled in nearby Earnscleugh, Central Otago.

In 2024 they hosted the inaugural Earnscleugh Folk Festival. Despite some inclement weather, the festival was very successful and everyone who came was very complimentary about the facilities at the 100 year old Earnscleugh Hall, just outside of Alexandra in Central Otago.

In 2025 we will be running another wee gathering, and have moved the date forward by three weeks so the famous Central Otago blossoms should be in their full Spring glory at this time! There are no official guests, so everyone can be very involved with the weekend’s music and dance as happened last year. The programme will follow the usual Cardrona format of poetry or singalongs in the mornings, blackboard concerts, themed concerts and invited concerts in the afternoons, the big Saturday night ceilidh and the final concert on Sunday night.

The festival will take place at the Earnscleugh Hall, Earnscleugh Road from Friday 3rd October to Sunday 5th October, with pack-up day on the morning of Monday 6th. The hall has lots of space out the back for caravans, campers and tents and the hall has a large kitchen that can be used by participants, as well as internal toilets and washbasins. Sorry, but there are no showers! However please note the kitchen has no cooking pots, pans or utensils, just bowls, plates, cups and cutlery. It also has fantastic heaters in the hall, as we luckily discovered last year.

For those who prefer a bit of comfort (and a shower!), there are motels and campgrounds with cabins only 5kms away in both Alexandra and Clyde. You’d best book soon for these as the famous Blossom festival is on the weekend before our gathering, and some of the events do go on for a few days.

The registration fee remains the same as last year’s successful  inaugural gathering, namely $110 per person. However this year the fee also includes a complimentary meal on Sunday night before and during the Final concert. The meal will commence at 6pm with a large pot of yummy soup, followed by platters of street food and finger type food that will be placed on each table around the hall. During the interval of the concert. a second round of platters will be brought out and placed on the tables, so the meal will be spread out over the evening. The street food will include at least one curry type meal and rice and things such as tacos, chicken nuggets etc. The chef will cater for all the usual food preferences such as vegetarians and allergies such as gluten free. Campers please note that the kitchen will not be available for use on Sunday once the afternoon concerts have finished.

In addition, to make the Sunday night into a real party, there will be a dress-up theme! It is "Characters from the Goldrush Days". We leave that to your imaginations.

This is a reminder to all who are thinking of coming, that we would appreciate confirmation and payment as soon as possible and at the latest 20th September, so that we have an idea of numbers. The caterer would appreciate this and also we can then open up bookings to the local people who might be interested – especially to the Saturday night Ceilidh dance and the Sunday night final concert.

We do hope you can join us for another weekend of music, dance, good company and fun!

To register your interest and arrange payment, please email Martin at martincurtisnz(at)gmail.com

(as an attempt to prevent spam, the @ has been replaced by (at). You will have to change this when sending an email).

Last updated: 7 August 2025