Calgary Folk Festival back at Prince’s Island Park for 46th year

With 1,800 volunteers and nearly 70 performers, the Calgary Folk Music Fest is raring to go for the 46th time.

There’s a children’s area for families to bring their kids, along with various stages featuring different performers.

However, the looming rain is something that has been coming down aplenty in Calgary, particularly on Friday, as Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a thunderstorm watch for the city. It says there is a chance of severe thunderstorms capable of producing “strong wind gusts, large hail and heavy downpours.”

Sara Leishman, the executive director of the Calgary Folk Music Festival, says while the amount of rain impacted the setup, organizers have been able to assess and adapt to the pouring rain.

“The amount of rain that we’ve had during our setup time has definitely slowed certain things down, but between our site operations team and our volunteers, they’ve done such a fantastic job of assessing what the different situations are and then being able to reprioritize,” she explained in a Thursday news conference.

Leishman says festivalgoers should prepare for the unexpected by dressing in layers that include a rain layer and a “sunny weather” layer, and to bring tarps for blankets when setting up on the grass.

Lineup changes, performers to expect

The festival has also had to adapt to a scheduling hiccup as headline artist Michael Kiwanuka had to cancel his Thursday appearance in Calgary–and subsequently, his tour–due to an illness.

Kerry Clarke, artistic director for the festival, says it was unfortunate, but she and her team didn’t have to scramble after reaching out to several artists, including long-time hip-hop band Arrested Development, who saved the day and headlined in Kiwanuka’s stead.

Arrested Development, who last appeared in Calgary 12 years ago, recently released an album on July 4 and were already on tour.

“Arrested Development were one of the main ones we wanted. They were able to come. It’s amazing. They’re incredible,” Clarke said.

“So, it was a really good — as they say — pivot.”

Sierra Ferrell closed Thursday’s show after Arrested Development.

With five stages with performers on Friday, and eight on Saturday and Sunday, there’s plenty of tunes to sing and dance to.

Over on the mainstage Friday, Emily Wurramara kicks the night off at 5:30 p.m., followed by Katie Tupper at 6:30 p.m., Cymande at 7:35 p.m., and finally Ruby Waters and Patrick Watson to close it out at 8:50 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. respectively.

On Saturday, The Langan Band is at 5:30 p.m., then Madeleine Peyroux at 6:35 p.m., Les Mamans du Congo–all the way from the Republic of Congo– with Rrobin at 7:45 p.m., Los Lobos, well known for the hit “La Bamba,” will play at 8:50 p.m.; and Steve Earle and Reckless Kelly cap off the night at 10:15 p.m.

CAKE concludes the festival on Sunday at 8:55 p.m., but not before Begonia at 5:30 p.m., LA LOM at 6:30 p.m., and Ocie Elliot at 7:35 p.m.

Information about the artists, the different stages, and the schedule can be found online.

Fair Entry program to increase accessibility to festival

The festival is expecting around 50,000 people over the four days of performances, and it includes–for the first time–the addition of the Fair Entry program, a joint initiative with the city that brings discounted tickets for concertgoers.

Leishman says while “Folk Fest is for everybody,” the festival should be “walking that talk.” The new initiative was spurred after a conversation with Mayor Jyoti Gondek last December, when she shared interest in the program.

“It’s an accredited program, so that we’re able to offer that to folks and at the same time it’s a lot more logistically easy to facilitate on our end,” she said.

When asked about how the festival has been able to keep bringing in artists over the last 46 years, she says it’s due to the commitment of Calgarians volunteering year after year.

“I think the secret sauce is truly our volunteers … Their contributions–and this is a very conservative estimate–is over $1,000,000 worth of volunteer labour. And so that is a huge part of what we’re able to do,” she said.

“Then also Calgarians showing up rain or shine, year over year and making it a part of their summer plans.”

More information about Friday, Saturday, and Sunday shows can be found online