Since the 1990s, Fairbridge Village, a self-contained rural site a few clicks north of Pinjarra, has been the setting for many memorable music events. Off the South Western Highway an hour from Perth, it is the ideal location for a family event — space for everyone, safe for pedestrians. Throw in fields for camping and cottages for artist accommodation and you have the perfect place for a festival.

For nigh on 30 years, the village and its eponymous Fairbridge Festival flourished. Then COVID hit and the rhythm of this popular event was thrown out of whack. Two of the three annual offerings between 2020 and 2022 were cancelled at the last minute. In 2023, limitations with the aging infrastructure made attendances of 3,000 plus untenable and the Festival left the site altogether.

But nature abhors a vacuum. Throw up an obstacle and any arts producer worth their salt will find a way around it. In 2024, on losing it’s namesake site, the spring Nanga Music Festival, a smaller annual folk outing, relocated to Fairbridge Village. Then last year, a new festival, Playmakers, had it’s debut.

Bespoke and boutique, Playmakers is an emerging star in WA’s music firmament. After the success of 2025, it returns on the weekend of March 27 to 29 with an extended program featuring pedigree Australian and international artists and instrument-makers.

The brainchild of Rod Vervest, a guitarist/director and former Fairbridge Festival artistic director, the twist to Playmakers is that the performances and workshops are of equal importance. Players + makers = Playmakers. As Vervest puts it: “The intention is to speak to audiences through the voice of the instrument not the ego of the artist”.

Also key is its intentionally small scale. With a maximum attendance of 300 (the number of beds in the cottages plus a small camping component), the program is presented in three indoor venues: the dining hall, chapel and club house.

Playmakers originated as the workshop component in Albany’s Harboursound Festival. Focused on the acoustic guitar, it started small but grew as more WA-based luthiers became involved. In the mid-2000s it transferred to Perth Festival’s Great Southern Program and was extended to include international makers and other instruments. With the closure of that program in 2016, Playmakers went into hibernation.

When Fairbridge Festival left the Village, Vervest decided to revive Playmakers as a standalone event. He had long dreamed to do this but also wanted to ensure that music remained at the idyllic Fairbridge site.

Curated from Vervest’s extensive global network, even though compact, the program is stunning for the virtuosity of the performers and range of musical styles. The 15 acts this year include traditional folk and Americana, country, classical, jazz, multi-cultural and genre-bending singer-songwriter-instrumentalists. Diverse and rich, every act brings something unique to the mix, whether they be familiar or not, internationals who’ve been here before or those just beginning to make waves on the scene. Crucially, although some artists have returned, including Vervest himself, only one of last year’s acts is on this year’s bill. It’s pretty well all new and different.

There are too many peaks to single any out. Refer to the Playmakers website for the full program details and bios. However, one of the makers, UK/Australian luthier Daisy Tempest does jump out. This vibrant young craftswoman’s guitars have won international acclaim and been acquired by players and collectors alike, selling for up to $36,000. The many popular videos on her YouTube channel are testament to her prowess.

This year’s program also includes in conversation sessions hosted by former ABC Radio National producer Doug Spencer, along with round-robin forums of specialist music and open mic concerts. Although they may seem specialist, only for craft nerds, the workshops and talks are pitched to a general audience and abound with comic and insightful stories while the performance program has something for everyone.

For seasoned Fairbridge revellers, the smaller scale of Playmakers can feel surreal. There is no jostling for seats, open spaces where marquees, food stalls and markets usually stand, and the roadways are often eerily empty. But overall this makes for a more comfortable and intimate experience — it is a delight to be able to see every act in the program. For older folk especially, a made-up bed in an air-conditioned cottage with in-house bathrooms, a decent kitchen and ample living spaces is more appealing than a sleeping bag in a tent on a crowded field. Moreover, the meals are served in the dining hall with sufficient seats for everyone.

If you want to get a taste of this innovative musical event without committing to three days away, day tickets are also now available.

But then, for those who’ve missed the camping, crowds and revelry of Fairbridge Festival, rest assured, after a five-year hiatus, that Festival too is returning to the Village over the weekend of April 17 to 19.

Since the cancellation of its 2024 event at an alternative site, the Festival has been restructured and revitalized. Artistic Programme Coordinator Jon Cope and his programming committee have redesigned it to accommodate the limitations of the Village site and the realities of mounting a large-scale music event post-COVID.

Attendance has been capped at 1500. There will be no day tickets, only weekend ones. Instead of the half dozen or more performance venues, there are only four: a mainstage circus tent and the traditional chapel, club-house and dining hall. The program has been reduced to slightly more than 50 acts, most of them Fairbridge regulars from WA. There is a small contingent from Victoria and New South Wales and one international (A second act cancelled due to disrupted air travel).

Crucially, the program is completely curated without any artist call-out. Pragmatically, after his 2024 experience, Cope wanted to have the budget in place before committing to artists. It also fits with the Festival’s overarching theme: “Honouring the past, re-imaging the future”. The program looks back to its core roots in folk and world music while welcoming new generations – opening the door for younger musicians while showing them the gems of the past. Significantly, the acts have been selected to not double up with either the Nannup Music Festival or Playmakers.

With his extensive global music network, Cope has also included a solid program of world music. Representing the character of contemporary Australia, this brings other new artists into the fold.

Families also will be catered for with street performances, the Kaleidoscope Children’s program and Youthopia Loft Sessions. The usual market and food stalls will return while alcohol sales are restricted to two defined licensed areas. All up, the festival will maintain its family and camping orientation and provide a solid, rich and varied weekend of constant activity.

Cope and his Festival colleagues are to be complimented on the meticulous job they had done to revive this jewel of a festival. Together with Playmakers, Fairbridge Festival will ensure Fairbridge Village remains a prominent site for West Australian music lovers.

Tickets for both Playmakers and Fairbridge Festival are available through their respective websites: playmakers.com.au and fairbridgefestival.com.au