In November 2022, the difficult decision was made to cancel the 2023 event due to concerns the Fairbridge Village may no longer be a suitable venue.

The Festival was established by Max Klubal and Sally Grice, who at the time were committee members of the Western Australian Folk Federation (WAFF).

In 1996, Fairbridge Festival disassociated itself from WAFF to its present status as an incorporated not-for-profit association.

During this time, a general manager was also appointed to lead the growing Festival Operations Group who were mainly volunteers.

This change also better reflected the role of FolkWorld Inc. as the premier peak organisation supporting and promoting folk, roots and world music in Western Australia.

In 2012, the Fairbridge Festival Quest songwriting competition for high school-aged young people was launched and regularly unearthed new talent from across Western Australia since then.

The school was founded with the mission of taking deprived children from the orphanages (such as Barnardo's) and streets of Britain with the promise of a healthy life in the Colonies with better prospects, as was the prevailing ethos of the time.