Weather can be unpredictable, especially at folk festivals where delicate fiddles and other acoustic instruments take centre stage. Rain, wind, and sudden temperature drops all pose unique challenges for festival organisers – from damp fiddles and slipping bow strings to performers’ cold, numb fingers. Seasoned festival producers around the world have seen it all, and they know that with smart preparation and quick thinking, the music can play on no matter the conditions.
In this guide, veteran folk festival organisers share hard-earned wisdom on weatherproofing your event. These tips are drawn from real experiences at festivals large and small – from the muddy fields of the UK and the storm-prone Rockies of Canada to sun-baked Australian folk gatherings. By planning ahead for rain, wind, and cold, a festival producer can keep both performers and audiences safe, comfortable, and entertained. On top of that, savvy organisers communicate with ticket holders in advance about the forecast – encouraging attendees to bring raincoats, boots, sunscreen or layers as appropriate – so the crowd comes prepared to brave the elements too.
Stock Up on Warmth and Dry Gear
When the forecast looks chilly or damp, come prepared with supplies to keep musicians and instruments in top shape. Many folk festival producers pack a weather readiness kit that includes:
– Hand warmers and gloves: Cold fingers make it hard to play fast reels on a fiddle. Discreet chemical hand warmer packs in pockets or fingerless gloves can help fiddlers, guitarists, and other instrumentalists maintain dexterity on cold evenings. Some festivals even provide heated backstage areas or space heaters, but at minimum, have plenty of hand warmer packets on hand.
– Towels and cloths: Sudden rain can leave instruments and stage surfaces wet. Stock absorbent towels to quickly dry off instruments (gently, to avoid scratching the finish) and to wipe down microphone stands, amps, or chairs before and after a rain shower. At Ireland’s damp Ennis Trad Fest, for example, stage crew keep stacks of microfiber cloths ready to swab fiddles and banjos between sets, preserving both wood and strings.
– Spare strings and accessories: Rapid weather changes can wreak havoc on strings. A hot afternoon followed by a cool rainy night can cause tuning pegs to loosen and strings to snap. Savvy organisers keep spare string sets (especially for fiddles, guitars, and mandolins) and extra instrument accessories like rosin, picks, capos, and straps at the ready. At the Winnipeg Folk Festival in Canada, the production team often partners with local music shops to set up an on-site instrument repair and strings booth – a lifesaver if a fiddler breaks a string right before their set in humid weather.
– Instrument shelters: For truly wet climates, consider providing plastic coverings or hard-shell cases side-stage to shield instruments. Small pop-up tents or even oversized garbage bags can serve as impromptu rain covers for gear if an open stage suddenly gets drenched. Seasoned stage managers often keep a roll of plastic sheeting or garbage bags nearby – as one quips, “My fiddle case always has a rain poncho of its own ready to unfold at a moment’s notice!”
Being well-stocked with warmth and drying gear shows performers that the festival has their comfort in mind. It can turn a shivering, rain-soaked ensemble into one that’s warm, dry, and ready to give the crowd an amazing show despite the storm.
Provide Covered Changeover Zones
One often-overlooked factor during wet or windy weather is the changeover zone – the area where one act’s gear comes off stage and the next act’s gear comes on. In folk festivals, this area is often crowded with instrument cases, electronics, and performers waiting for their turn. Always ensure there’s covered, sheltered space for those waiting in the wings.
For outdoor stages, invest in canopies, tarps or sidewall extensions on your stage roof to create a rainproof wing where artists can stand with their instruments. If your festival uses smaller pop-up stages or open-air dance tents, set up a small adjacent tent as a green room. This gives musicians a dry spot to tune and warm up, and it prevents that heartbreaking sight of a prized fiddle sitting in the rain.
At large events, modular staging can help – many big folk festivals like the Cambridge Folk Festival (UK) or Woodford Folk Festival (Australia) use stages with covered wings or attachable side tents. But even at a small community folk fest, a simple rented canopy beside the stage can be a show-saver when drizzle starts. Make sure it’s secured against the wind (sandbags or stakes), and designate crew to help ferry instruments and amps under cover during changeovers.
Consider the example of a local bluegrass festival in Missouri: when an unexpected downpour hit, volunteers quickly moved the incoming band’s gear under a nearby merchandise tent while the stage was being dried. Thanks to that quick thinking and having an extra tent, the next act plugged in only a few minutes late – instruments safe and mostly dry – and the audience hardly noticed the delay.
Shift Delicate Acts Under Cover During Squalls
Flexibility is key to weather management. If a powerful squall (sudden rainstorm or windstorm) blows through, don’t be afraid to adjust your schedule or staging on the fly. Delicate acoustic acts, especially solo performers with fine instruments like violins, cellos, or harps, should be moved to a covered area if at all possible during extreme weather.
This might mean temporarily relocating a performance to a smaller tent stage, a nearby hall, or even an indoor space if your venue has one. Many folk festivals have multiple stages including at least one sheltered venue – for instance, the Tønder Festival in Denmark and Australia’s National Folk Festival both incorporate big-top tents or indoor workshop spaces. These can double as fallback locations when outdoor stages become untenable.
If a lightning storm or high winds make it unsafe on the main stage, consider swapping sets around: you could send a robust folk-rock band (with electronic gear that’s safely covered) later when the weather clears, and bring forward an indoor unplugged session for the interim. Audiences tend to be understanding if you explain that a certain act has been shifted to protect the performers and their instruments. In fact, these impromptu intimate sessions can become festival lore – fans love a special “under the tent” acoustic jam that wasn’t on the schedule.
For example, at one rain-soaked edition of the Canmore Folk Music Festival in Canada, a sudden hailstorm forced organizers to pause the main stage show. Rather than leave die-hard fans disappointed, the Celtic fusion band The McDades stepped off the stage and huddled with the remaining audience under a small tent nearby, playing a purely acoustic set by lantern light. That magical, unplanned performance kept the crowd happy while the storm raged, and it exemplified how moving a delicate act (in this case, a family fiddle group) under cover turned a weather hiccup into a cherished memory.
Importantly, always coordinate these changes with your stage managers, audio team, and artist liaison. Safety comes first – no band should play on an electrically wired stage during lightning, and no fragile instrument should risk damage in high winds or heavy rain. If you plan ahead for alternate locations and a slightly fluid schedule, your festival can roll with Mother Nature’s punches without going silent.
Communicate Calmly About Weather Holds and Restarts
Clear, calm communication is the festival producer’s best tool in a weather crisis. When conditions force a hold or delay, announce it promptly and calmly to both the audience and the artists. Crowd messaging can be done from the stage microphone, info screens, or even a bullhorn if power is out. Let attendees know exactly what’s happening (“Folks, we have a lightning delay. Please seek shelter in your cars or under the main tent. We expect to resume in approximately 30 minutes once the storm passes.”). Being transparent reassures everyone that the organisers are on top of the situation.
Backstage, communicate with performers about revised timings or alternate plans. Artists will appreciate knowing you’re prioritising their safety and the integrity of their instruments. If you decide to cut a set short or push it later, work with the artists’ needs – a fiddler who just spent 20 minutes retuning after a downpour will be much happier if you give them a few extra minutes to soundcheck when restarting.
Many modern festivals also leverage technology for communication. Social media and festival apps are excellent for pushing out quick updates like “Show will resume at Stage 2 at 4:45 pm” or “Tonight’s fiddle workshop moved to the indoor hall due to high winds.” If your ticketing platform (for example, Ticket Fairy) offers SMS or email broadcast to ticket holders, use it to send urgent weather alerts and instructions. The key is to keep information flowing and panic minimal – festival-goers take their cue from the organisers’ tone.
During one recent UK folk festival, when a heavy rain cell hit on a Sunday afternoon, the organisers calmly announced a short pause and directed people to shelter while equipment was secured. On social media they posted a friendly update reminding folks to grab a cup of tea from the vendors and hang tight. Within 40 minutes the skies cleared, the crew toweled off the stage, and music resumed. The audience, kept well-informed, returned to their seats cheerfully – some even thanking staff for handling the situation professionally.
Finally, when restarting after a hold, make a clear announcement as well. Bring the crowd back with a positive note (“Thank you for your patience, folks – the show goes on!”) and consider a brief soundcheck or tune-up time for musicians who had to wait in damp conditions. A little communication goes a long way to maintaining trust and good spirits during weather hiccups.
Protect Instruments First, Then the Schedule
When bad weather strikes, it’s easy to fixate on keeping your schedule on track. But veteran festival organisers know that protecting instruments, equipment, and people is the top priority – even if it means a delay or reshuffle. In the heat of the moment, save the gear first and worry about the timetable second.
Musical instruments, especially those at folk festivals, are often one-of-a-kind or antique pieces with huge sentimental and monetary value. A fiddle that’s been passed down through generations or a handmade guitar from a master luthier simply cannot be replaced if ruined by water or extreme cold. Therefore, train your crew that the moment rain starts blowing in or winds threaten the stage, their job is to secure the instruments and sound equipment immediately. This could mean covering keyboards with tarps, moving stage monitors under cover, or helping an artist whisk their violin offstage to safety.
We’ve seen what happens when schedule is put before safety: stages collapsing due to wind, electrical gear shorting out, and soaked instruments that require expensive repairs. No festival set is worth a life or a livelihood. That’s why major events like Poland’s Open’er Festival practise full evacuations of their sites in advance – in 2019, Open’er’s founder Miko?aj Zió?kowski had to evacuate 60,000 people due to a sudden gale, and his team’s “safety first” drills ensured no one was hurt and gear was secured ** (pitchfork.com) (pitchfork.com). On a smaller scale, if a folk festival in the mountains of Colorado halts midday for lightning, it might upset a few schedules, but everyone will remember that you put their well-being first, which builds trust**.
If weather forces you to cut a set or pause, most artists will understand – often the musicians are as concerned for their instruments as you are. You can make it up to the audience with a special encore later or by honoring tickets for a rescheduled show, but you can’t undo a smashed fiddle or a collapse accident. As a wise festival producer might say, “We can always make up time, but we can’t un-crack a violin or un-injure a guest.”
Therefore, build extra flexibility into your schedule. Have a bit of buffer time that can be used if you need to pause and restart. It’s useful to identify which acts could do a slightly shorter set if needed to catch up later in the day – ideally volunteers or local artists who are willing, rather than your headliners. Communicate this plan quietly to those artists at advance production meetings so they know the drill if weather intervenes. Most importantly, empower your stage managers to call a stop when things get dicey. It’s better to have a brief, calm intermission than to push on through dangerous conditions.
Embrace Community Resilience (and Give Credit)
Bad weather can actually bring out the best in the festival community. Seasoned folk festival organisers know that artists and audiences often band together in the face of rain or cold, turning a tough situation into a heartwarming one. As the producer, you can encourage this spirit – and it pays to acknowledge and thank the people who go above and beyond.
For instance, at the 41st Annual Bluegrass Festival in Grapeland, Texas in 2017, heavy rains from a hurricane threatened to wash out the event. Attendance dropped as nearby cities flooded, but organiser Colee Biller-Littlefield decided to keep the festival running as a morale boost and even turned it into a relief effort ** (messenger-news.com) (messenger-news.com). They invited attendees to donate supplies for storm victims and provided a dry, music-filled refuge for those who could make it. Acts adjusted their sets, volunteers laid down straw on muddy paths, and the community’s spirit shone through. Giving public credit to the bands that played unplugged in the barn during the worst of the storm, or the volunteers who handed out ponchos and hot tea, reinforces that collective identity. It shows that the festival isn’t just an event – it’s a family that weathers the storm together**.
Similarly, if you relocate a marquee performance under a tent or shorten a schedule, show appreciation: thank the crowd for sticking with you, praise the artists who were flexible, and maybe even share a post on the festival’s Facebook page celebrating how “we all made it through the rain and danced together.” These gestures not only make people feel valued, but they become part of your festival’s story and reputation. Future attendees will know that even if the skies open up, the festival will find a way to create magic (and that everyone will be taken care of).
In folk tradition, there’s an old saying: “If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain.” By planning thoroughly and fostering a sense of community resilience, you ensure that even the rain (or wind or cold) becomes a part of the festival’s cherished memories rather than its downfall.
Key Takeaways
- Prepare for all weather: Have hand warmers, towels, spare strings, tarps, and other supplies ready so musicians and crew can react quickly to cold or wet conditions. A well-prepared festival will handle a surprise downpour with minimal disruption.
- Provide shelter: Always give artists and instruments a covered place to wait and perform if possible. Use tented stages, canopies, or indoor backup locations to protect delicate acoustic instruments during rain or wind.
- Stay flexible and adaptive: Be willing to rearrange the schedule or move acts when Mother Nature intervenes. Shifting a fiddle performance under a tent or swapping set times is far better than risking damage or a complete cancellation.
- Communicate clearly: Keep audiences and artists informed about weather delays or changes. Calm, transparent announcements and timely updates (on-site and via apps/social media) maintain trust and safety.
- Safety and instruments first: Always prioritise the well-being of people and instruments over sticking rigidly to the timetable. It’s easier to make up a lost 15 minutes than to repair a ruined violin or speaker system – or to heal an avoidable injury.
- Foster festival spirit: Use challenging weather as an opportunity to strengthen the festival community. Applaud the patience of the crowd, the flexibility of performers, and the hard work of crew and volunteers. This positivity turns a tough situation into a triumph and keeps the festival’s vibe alive rain or shine.
25th August 2025