Visa Problems Affect Aussie Fest

U.S. authorities’ rigid controls on visas affected three attendees at the Australian Festival, held the second weekend of September in Nashville.

Performers Ross Wilson and Neil Murray and folklorist Warren Fahey were knocked back by immigration officials.

According to festival music director John Lomax III, the three were held back despite providing the department with “at least 50 pages of supporting data, copies of Encyclopedia entries, expert affidavits, the assistance of an immigration specialist in New York City, Austrade, a U.S. Congressman, and the Chambers of Commerce in Australia and the U.S.”

Acts like The Greencards, Catherine Britt, Pru Clearwater, Nessa Morgan, and Sam Hawksley, who were already living or touring the U.S., were able to perform.

— Bryan Jones