The long-awaited lineup for the Canmore Folk Festival has been announced with 36 musicians and bands set for the stage this summer from Aug. 3 - 5.
National icons and Canadian Music Hall of Famers Blue Rodeo are headlining the festival and performing their most famous album, Five Days in July.
“[I’m] really excited to bring in big names like Blue Rodeo and Dan Mangan and also some lesser known but up and coming stars like Jeremy Dutcher and Lido Pimienta and Moon Tricks, so I think it’s going to be a really solid lineup,” said Jenna Klein-Waller, the new executive director of the folk festival.
“I’m really excited about the lineup this year,”
Among the lineup for the three-day event are musicians like Leith Ross, Mariel Buckley, BuenRostro, Amy Nelson, Elisapie and Robert Adam.
“You may not know every single artist on the lineup, but you come and you explore and you learn new artists and you make new favourites and you see some really amazing workshops,” said Klein-Waller.
Klein-Waller focused on bringing diversity to the lineup, showcasing artists who are doing something different in the folk genre.
“Folk is a really broad genre and that is ever-changing,” she said. “I’d say 80 per cent of our artists are Canadian, but they’re working in folk music and in such interesting ways.”
The local Bow Valley artists have yet to be announced but will be named on May 5. Local Canmore band The Ducks – high schoolers Timmy Mann, Charlie Kestle, and Oliver Robins – will perform after being one of the awardees for the 2023 Lamphouse Endowment for the Arts Fund to aid in artistic endeavours.
This year, the folk fest has partnered with Grizzly Paw Brewing Company to bring site-wide licensing, meaning that you can walk around and enjoy good music with a cold beer in hand.
“We’re going to do this in a safe and family-friendly way. But there will be Grizzly Paw beer on site, as well as some other options,” said Klein-Waller.
Also new to the festival are children 12 and under free.
“That’s a brand new endeavour, in a way that hopefully we can get some younger families to make this more accessible,” said Klein-Waller.
Calgarians will have the option to use the new Folk Fest Express, a shuttle in collaboration with On-It, that will offer round trips to the festival grounds from the Somerset-Bridlewood LRT station, Red Arrow Downtown Ticket office and the Crowfoot LRT station.
“It kind of lessens that challenge on parking, lessens the challenge of finding accommodations, which we know is really challenging in the valley, and hopefully just decrease our environmental impact as well if folks get on board that bus,” said Klein-Waller.
Tickets are already available through Folk Fests website, www.canmorefolkfestival.com. For the full line up visit www.canmorefolkfestival.com/festival/lineup.
