Australia’s first and only folk-punk dedicated festival HOBOFOPO returns.
Hobart’s “original folk-punk orgy” HOBOFOPO has announced its triumphant return for 2022, with the absolute legends at Folk ‘Til Ya Punk Records curating an impressive first announcement with some of the biggest names in folk punk.
Since its inception, HOBOFOPO has grown from just a big party to launch Folk Til Ya Punk Records in 2015 into an annual gig-crawl bender-weekender, becoming Hobart’s (and Australia’s) first and only dedicated folk-punk festival, where literally hundreds of punks from across Australia head out on a pub crawl in Hobart listening to folk music.
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Celebrating a genre full of storytelling, politics, and reality, over the years HOBOFOPO has hosted a swathe of incredible international acts such as Days N Daze, AJJ and Crywank, alongside local acts such as; Crooked Fiddle Band, Sydney City Trash, Darren Hanlon, Flangipanis, The Go Set, The Dead Maggies and This Is A Robbery.
Now the beloved HOBOFOPO is back, returning as a three-day gig crawl (previously four-days) across Hobart/nipaluna and southern lutrawitta from Friday, November 25 to Sunday, November 27 2022.
Heading up the festival will be the crème de la crème of genre-bending artists in Ceschi. The moniker of Julio Francisco “Ceschi” Ramos, the American hip hop musician, singer and songwriter’s music was born out of the worlds of underground Hip Hop, Hardcore Punk and Folk. His version of songwriting may include machine-gun-speed-raps or emotive ballads inspired by Latin American troubadours. Over the last decade, he has toured North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Although it’s difficult to describe the type of music that Ceschi makes, it is not difficult to feel the ferocious heart that is behind it all.
Alongside Ceschi, the lineup will also feature Sydney artists in Oz Bush Folk Punk stalwarts Handsome Young Strangers; HOBOFOPO regular in Billy Puntton & The Mental Health Plan; and five- piece, piano-folk-punk collective Ess-Em, whose energetic and catchy piano-driven songs are backed by trombone, double bass, electric guitar, and drums, with lively lyrics that run the gamut of topics all the way from climate change and cosmic existentialism to finding loose change and their love for their pets.
New Zealand’s Anti-folk punk solo act Departure Party will also join in on the festivities, alongside Melbourne’s Jude Joseph, Melbourne hard folk band Whiskey Dram, Geelong-via-North East Victoria folk punks The Dead Peasants, Sydney Celtic Folk Rockers Medusa’s Wake, Punk turned folk singer Jim Mongrel and the Paid Protesters, and Kater Dy, formerly of Semen and Garfuckel who brings sad girl ethos to folk punk with her arthritic guitar skills and hacking vocal chords.
The first announcement is rounded out by This Is A Robbery (TAS) The Dead Maggies (TAS), Ragged Hollow (TAS), and Alegria (TAS), with more acts still to be announced.
HOBOFOPO will occur as a pub-crawl of Hobart CBD venues on Friday, November 25, Saturday, November 26, and Sunday, November 27 2022 with performances occuring at a secret location south of Hobart. Tickets will go on sale soon. Until then, save the date!
Stay up to date with the latest from the festival here.
