Festival Distribution was a Canadian independent record label and music distributor, specializing in

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and world music artists. The company was formed in 1993 when it purchased the music distribution arm of the

Vancouver Folk Music Festival The Vancouver Folk Music Festival (VFMF), founded in 1978, is an outdoor multistage music festival, located at Jericho Beach Park on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia. It takes place annually, on the third weekend of July. The fes ...

. At its zenith, there were over 3,000 titles offered. The distribution company marketed the music from many important Canadian artists including

Stan Rogers Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter. Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and th ...

Connie Kaldor Connie Isabelle Kaldor, (born 9 May 1953) is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. She is the recipient of three Juno awards. Early life and education Kaldor was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. She graduated from Campbell Collegiate in Regina in 1972 ...

Roy Forbes Roy Charles Forbes (born February 13, 1953) is a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, whose music bears heavy influences from classic American genres of acoustic blues and traditional country. Forbes is known for his high soulful voice and p ...

, Eileen McGann (musician), Kobo Town, and

Kiran Ahluwalia Kiran Ahluwalia is a Canadian singer, songwriter who infuses African desert blues and Western musical styles. Kiran Ahluwalia won the 'Newcomer' category in the inaugural Songlines Music Awards (2009) – announced 1 May 2009 – the new 'world m ...

. The company's imprint Jericho Beach Music is still active with releases by

James Keelaghan James Keelaghan (born October 28, 1959) is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Keelaghan is now based in Perth, Ontario. Many of the lyrics in his songs display a concern about social problems and justice in society. E ...

Alpha Yaya Diallo Alpha Yaya Diallo is a Guinean-born Canadian guitarist, singer and songwriter. He incorporates Guinea's rich musical tradition into his original compositions. Diallo has won two Juno Awards, shared a third, and was nominated another three times. ...

, The Wailin' Jennys,

Kim Barlow Kim Barlow (born March 10, 1969) is a Canadian folk singer and musician. Biography Barlow was born in Montreal, Quebec, and raised in rural Nova Scotia, she is of Anglo-Quebecker descent. She studied classical guitar at Florida State University ...

, e.s.l.,

Ndidi Onukwulu Ndidi Onukwulu is a Canadian singer-songwriter born in British Columbia.Ken Eisner"Melodrama seems to suit wide-ranging Ndidi Onukwulu", ''Georgia Strait'' Although her style is often classified as jazz and blues, Onukwulu combines several musica ...

and

Geoff Berner Geoff Berner (born 1971) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician from Vancouver. Musical career Berner originally studied piano in his youth. At a party, somebody asked him why he did not play the accordion. As a result, he began learni ...

in the active catalogue. Festival was also the Canadian distributor for American and international labels in the genres, including

Righteous Babe Righteous Babe Records is an American independent record label that was created by folk singer Ani DiFranco in 1990 to release her own songs in lieu of being beholden to a mainstream record company. History Righteous Babe Records was originally c ...

, Red House, Hightone, Delmark, Waterlily Acoustic, Moment and Music for Little People. The distribution operation closed its doors in 2008 owing to the general downturn in the market for physical CDs.

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Canadian independent record labels Folk record labels World music record labels Record labels established in 1993 Defunct record labels of Canada