Ahead of the National Folk Festival, we spoke with musicians, circus performers and poets about what makes it work. 

The festival will run over five days at Easter, from April 18-22. Close to 200 acts, including 14 international acts, will perform more than 750 shows throughout 20 venues.

There will also be a children's festival, themed bars, food and market stalls, roving entertainment and an engaging, multi-discipline arts program including craft, dance and art.

The Little Quirks are a young all-girl family trio from the Central Coast, NSW, with sisters Abbey and Mia Toole and their cousin Jaymi. Their sound is dominated by their vocal harmonies and their own brand of indie-folk quirkiness comprising mandolin, guitar and drum kit.

Tell us why music is an important part of your family life?

Abbey: Growing up in a musical family, we were always surrounded by music. From an early age we had an endless supply of drum kits, guitars and so many other instruments that we'd always play around with. We'd muck around with harmonies and make up songs so it definitely became our normality of our family life.

What's it like playing with family?

Abbey: It's awesome. We always have the best time together. We have our own little language between us all which makes it so easy and so fun on and off stage. Overall we are family but we are also really great friends in our everyday lives. No fights so far, so fingers crossed.

What should people expect from your shows?

Abbey: We are performing our brand new songs off our EP being released later in the year which is really exciting. Everyone at the festival will get a little sneak peak of these new tracks. We love to jump around and have fun with our performances and I think our love for what we do really shows.

Jesse Holden, 16, and Sammy Holden, 13

From a scarily young age the Holden boys have been playing with fire. From their home in Candelo in the Bega Valley, Jesse and Sammy have honed their skills in the circus arts to form Brothers On Fire. Their unique style weaves circus skills into street theatre and will appeal to all ages with its light-hearted exploration of the issues of their generation.

Why is performing an important part of family life?

Jesse: The idea of joining the circus was to get away from my family. I didn't think they would all come with me. However it has been amazing and has brought us closer together. We have this common interest and a goal that we all work towards. We all have different skills but none of us had any experience when we started out, so we have learned together.

What's it like performing with family?

Sammy: Mixed. We spend a lot of time together and don't get enough of a break from each other sometimes. You tend to be brutally honest with family too. Your real emotions come out, not the sanitised version. I can't imagine other people putting up with that. However you can also trust each other. Our shows are very physical and there's quite a lot of interaction with the audience. There's a lot that can go wrong. Jesse and I really have to look out for each other and think on our feet to make the shows run smoothly, and our folks are always there in the background to make sure everyone is safe.

What should people expect from your shows?

Jesse: Spectacle and fun. All our acts are inspired by our experiences and we hope they will make people laugh as well as gain a little insight into our world. We weave the circus stunts into the story. We also love interacting with the audience. It makes every show different and the audience become part of the experience instead of just observers.

The multiple award-winning group from Québec presents high-energy traditional French-language songs with strong vocals, acoustic and electric instruments and programming. Led by Melisande Gelinas-Fauteux and her husband Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand.

Tell us why music is an important part of your family life.

Melisande: Music has always been important in my life, there are a few singers in my family and I've always sung. Now that my husband and I are leading Mélisande [électrotrad] together, music is a big part of our everyday life and when our two kids come to our shows they sing along and dance to the music, sometimes our son Émile does breakdance on stage. As a couple we live off our musical project, not only of the music but everything that surrounds it so we are always discussing or working on it. When you work as a family it's hard to take breaks and even if you say that you are taking breaks, next thing you know is that you are working again ... I like to call it passion for what we do.

What's it like playing with family?

Melisande: I really love to share the stage with my husband, we have a great complicity together, we can understand each other with a look. I think we forgive the mistakes of the other more easily but paradoxically we are more severe towards each other. There are people who would not be able to spend so much time with their spouse but it's a dream for me that has become my life, even with the challenges that entails.

What should people expect from your shows?

Melisande: The shows will be energetic and fun, with grooves to dance to! We are very happy to have late shows including a dance party on Sunday at the Coorong where we will have glow sticks and flashing sunglasses available to people. We hope the audience will be as enthusiastic as we are.

Megan began performing poetry when she was six years old, and has loved doing so ever since. Now aged 11, she has won multiple awards for her reciting, and has recorded her first album of poetry. Her dad, Jason, is a natural storyteller, with a warm, engaging stage presence. He presents a vibrant combination of new and old Australian traditional songs, poems, yarns, and observations.

Tell us why performing is an important part of your family life.

Megan: I can't really imagine a world without it - it's always just been a part of my life; just as I like reading, my parents and I perform music and poetry. I didn't even think it was weird until I started school and we had news about our parent's jobs - everyone else's parent worked on weekdays, not weekends, and didn't take their kids to work. I thought they were weird, to be honest.

Jason: Music, stories, poetry - science and education - they've always been the best way I have of understanding the world. The music is at the core of everything we do.

What's it like playing with family? 

Megan: I love practicing and performing poetry with others and it's easier to bounce off someone if you know them well. Sometimes, however, it can be hard to keep business and performing out of our day-to-day lives, but, even with that, I wouldn't change it for anything.

Jason: The goods include laughs, the hours of philosophising that make up a 15-minute gig. The bads? Nothing I can think of. I'm not keen on the pressures that build before a big show and the way they flow through the family.

What should people expect from your shows?

Megan: I like, and often perform, humorous poetry, but I also use more serious pieces to confront or bring to light an issue that I feel needs addressing. I am excited to bring some brand new poems to the National - some I've just memorised and some I've composed myself.

Jason: I hope we have the right thing to say, at the right time. We're hosting events quite a lot, and that is a special interest of mine - allowing space for the disparate voices. I also hope The World Poetry Debate solves some significant problems with the world ... or at least helps us all to manage a laugh or three.

The Fagans are one of Australia's leading folk music families. They are loved internationally for their high-energy shows, stellar repertoire and close harmony singing and are delighted to reunite for the National, their heartland festival. The five-piece includes founding duo Margaret and Bob Fagan, folk-roots songwriter Kate Fagan, and renowned UK-based fiddle and bouzouki duo Nancy Kerr and James Fagan.

Tell us why music an important part of your family life.

Margaret: It's a really important part of our family life because if we are performing together it means we are actually all in the same country, and that's a rare thing. We are a close-knit family and have always loved making music together. Bob and I met through music and it has continued to be a driving force for us all.

What is it like playing with the family?

Margaret: Singing together as a family is a real buzz. It's something we've always done, since James and Kate were very small, so it's a natural, organic thing. Then when Nancy Kerr joined the family, with her brilliant fiddle playing and uncanny ability to find a fifth harmony, there was this whoop onto another level. It's a lot of fun. The five of us get together so rarely that it is always exciting when it happens. A downside is that we don't see each other enough to develop much new material as the five-piece, but Canberra audiences are very generous and they always welcome the old favourites.

What should people expect from your shows?

High energy, great arrangements, exquisite five-part harmonies, and thoughtful lyrics.

The National Folk Festival is at EPIC from April 18-22. Tickets are on sale now at folkfestival.org.au See the full 2019 line-up at folkfestival.org.au/2019-performers.