The Canmore Folk Music Festival is an annual three-day outdoor music event held the first weekend of August in
Canmore,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, established in 1978. Though the town of
Canmore has a population of less than 14,000, the festival averages an attendance rate of over 19,000 each year. As of 2018, the producer of the festival is Sue Panning & the festival is managed by Ken Pillipow. The festival relies on over 600 volunteers and is a community affair.
History
The festival showcases performers in many genres. Most years, folk, Celtic, bluegrass, blues, gospel, roots, and worldbeat acts perform. Past main stage performers include
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, po ...
,
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...
,
Ian Tyson
Ian Dawson Tyson (September 25, 1933 – December 29, 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who wrote several folk songs, including "Four Strong Winds" and " Someday Soon", and performed with partner Sylvia Tyson as the duo Ian & Sylvia.
Ear ...
,
Cowboy Junkies
Cowboy Junkies are an alternative country and folk rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1985 by Alan Anton (bassist), Michael Timmins (songwriter, guitarist), Peter Timmins (drummer) and Margo Timmins (vocalist). The three Timminses ...
, and
Grievous Angels
Grievous Angels are a Canadian alternative country band, active since 1986."Street Beat". ''Toronto Star'', June 11, 1987. The band's name is a reference to the Gram Parsons album ''Grievous Angel''."Angels have Canadian roots". ''Edmonton Journal ...
. In addition to mainstage concerts by individual artists, the festival has artists collaborate on shared session stages. The Canmore Folk Music Festival is held at Centennial Park, in downtown Canmore.
Alberta's Rockies
Alberta's Rockies comprise the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. On the southwestern part of the province along the British Columbia border, the region covers all but the south of Census Division 15.
The main industry in this region ...
act as a backdrop for the festival stages.
See also
*
List of festivals in Alberta
The following is an incomplete list of annual festivals in the province of Alberta, Canada. This list includes festivals of diverse types, including regional festivals, commerce festivals, fairs, food festivals, arts festivals, religious festiv ...
*
List of music festivals in Canada
This is an incomplete list of music festivals in Canada.
Sublists
By locale
By type
*List of classical music festivals#North America, List of classical music festivals#North America
*List of electronic music festivals
*List of folk festiva ...
*
References
{{Reflist
External links
Canmore Folk Music FestivalOfficial website
Music festivals in Alberta