Over the years I've had four favourites. Maldon (NW of Melbourne) and Numeralla (S of Canberra) were excellent weekend festivals in the years I was able to go to them (I was there at the beginning of both but now live too far away); they both encouraged a lack of separation between performers and audiences but each had its own character.

Nariel (at Nariel Creek, in Victoria and near the upper Murray) has always been a favourite; the locals have maintained good relationships between their traditions and those of the visitors. A great, but low-key, event.

The National (peripatetic around major cities in Oz until 1992, when it became sedentary in Canberra) still engages actively participatory relationships between audiences and performers and has the full range from the super stars to the eight-year-old buskers.

Cheers, Rowan