Musician Ernest Aines names the world’s best music festivals

Melbourne-based busker Ernest Aines will jump on a plane to discover new traditional music.

“Folk festivals have a beautiful culture around them. Everyone is there for the same sole purpose of enjoying story-rich music,” says Melbourne-based musician Ernest Aines.

The busker grew up listening to his muso dad’s music and attending folk festivals in Australia before travelling overseas to experience and discover new folk music, which he says has given him a unique perspective.

“We sat around drinking beers and throwing the guitar back and forth,” he says.

“Nearly every country has its own version of traditional folk music. Travelling to experience music with new people in a new landscape with an entirely different culture helps open up the mind and I end up discovering a whole bunch of traditional music from that area that I have never heard.”

Melbourne muso Ernest Aines has attended folk festivals around the world.

Here, he shares his most memorable festival experiences: 

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, Ireland

The largest Irish traditional music festival has been running for more than 60 years. It was mainly developed as a competitive event, but attracts tens of thousands of visitors to see the performances and musicians from all around the world, with impressive skills in fiddle, harp and Irish pipes. This festival is run in a few different towns in Ireland.

A marching band procession at the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann Festival of Music in Tullamore, Ireland.

Edmonton Folk Music Festival, Canada

My favourite folk festival ever is Edmonton Folk Music Festival in Canada. It’s a large festival with over 20,000 people watching the main acts at night on the same hill. I volunteered on the main stage and it was such a thrill to be able to see some of my favourite musicians up close, including Fleet Foxes and my good friends The Teskey Brothers, who went to my high school.

An Indigenous dancer at the Edmonton Folk Music in Canada.

The Black Sheep Project, Brazil

The Black Sheep Project in Porto Alegre in Brazil is more than a music festival; it has very insightful talks about the future of music and technology. I was part of a talk focusing on a method called “design thinking”, to help teach children songwriting by getting deep into what their interests are.

The Black Sheep Project at Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Glasonbury Festival, England

Glastonbury is set in a very mystical place that still attracts druids to this day. It has a rich history of having some of the biggest names perform there: David Bowie, Jeff Buckley and Elton John, to name a few. It began on a small farm in a very quiet area and had a lot of fuss made about it in the ’70s when it was disturbing the locals with the radical music and increased amplification technology.

Views over the Glastonbury Festival site in England.

Ernest Aines’ travel highs and lows

Tea scam

In Shanghai, a group of young people asked me if I wanted to go to a traditional tea ceremony. During the ceremony they asked me what my signature looked like. I naively wrote it down. I woke up the next day with $950 less in my bank account.

Best busk

While busking in Vancouver, a stranger asked if he could use my guitar. I obliged, and through hearing that music a famous Irish singer-songwriter named Foy Vance came out of the pub and invited me in. I sang a song and Foy invited me to perform with him the next day.

Originally published as Musician Ernest Aines names the world’s best music festivals