Winnipeg Folk Festival
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The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a nonprofit charitable organization with an annual summer folk music festival held in
Birds Hill Provincial Park Birds Hill Provincial Park is a provincial park in Manitoba, Canada located in the Boreal Plains ecozone. The park protects areas representative of Aspen/Oak parkland, as well as provides opportunities for recreation. It is located 24 kilometers ...
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Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
, Manitoba, Canada. The festival features a variety of artists and music from around the world and is sure to include a number of local artists. Begun by
Mitch Podolak Mitch Podolak (21 September 1947 – 25 August 2019) was a prominent figure of the Canadian folk music community. He began his career at the Bohemian Embassy Coffee House in Toronto in the early 1960s, where he rose from busboy to booking shows. I ...
, Colin Gorrie, and Ava Kobrinsky in 1974 as a celebration of Winnipeg's centennial, the festival itself has grown into an event exceeding 70,000 attendees to the festival annually. The festival is held over the second weekend of July, beginning on Thursday night and running through to Sunday night. Beyond the four-day festival, the organization offers year-round concert programming at venues throughout the city bringing in artists as well as organizing free concert programming throughout the city.


Music

The festival offers a wide selection of music over the four-day festival. Throughout the year the organization facilitates the Hear All Year concert series.


Festival programming

There is a large variety of music at the festival, including bluegrass,
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, Americana,
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, contemporary singer-songwriters, and a variety of children's performers. Every year artists join the lineup from all over North America and across the world. The Winnipeg Folk Festival hosts over 70 artists annually from nearly 10 different countries including Australia,
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Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
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, Oscar Brand,
Brandi Carlile Brandi Marie Carlile ( ; born June 1, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans many genres, including folk rock, alternative country, Americana, and classic rock. , Carlile has released seven studio albums. She has ...
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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, p ...
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City and Colour Dallas Michael John Albert Green (born September 29, 1980) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who records under the name City and Colour. He is also known for his contributions as a singer, rhythm guitarist and songwr ...
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Courtney Barnett Courtney Melba Barnett (born 3 November 1987) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for her deadpan singing style and witty, rambling lyrics, she attracted attention with the release of her debut EP ''I've Got a Friend Calle ...
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Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voc ...
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Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (ke ...
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Elle King Tanner Elle Schneider (born July 3, 1989), known professionally as Elle King, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her musical style was influenced by country, rock and blues. In 2012, King released her debut EP, '' The Elle King ...
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Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...
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Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gu ...
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Half Moon Run Half Moon Run is a Canadian indie rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. The group is known for their heavy use of layered percussion, group vocal harmonies, and for playing multiple instruments during live performances. Career 2009–2013: For ...
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Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, includin ...
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Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...
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John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded ...
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Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single " The Remedy (I Won't ...
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K'naan Keinan Abdi Warsame (born 1 February 1978) ( so, Keynaan Cabdi Warsame, ar, كَينَان عَبدِ وَرسَمَ ''Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama''), better known by his stage name K'naan (), is a Somali-Canadian musician. He rose to prominenc ...
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Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...
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Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three ...
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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 ...
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. Each year the Winnipeg Folk Festival showcases local Manitoba talent including
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John K. Samson John Kristjan Samson (born 1973) is a Canadian musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a singer-songwriter and best known as the frontman of the Canadian indie folk/rock band The Weakerthans. He also played bass in the punk band Propagandhi durin ...
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Royal Canoe Royal Canoe is a Canadian indie pop band from Winnipeg and Steinbach, Manitoba. History The band formed in 2010 from members of Manitoba bands The Waking Eyes, The Liptonians and TELE. They have toured with Alt-J and Bombay Bicycle Club. In 20 ...
, William Prince and more.


History


Winnipeg Centennial Folksong Festival, 1974

The first Winnipeg folk festival was held August 9 - 11, 1974 at Birds Hill Provincial Park. The free concert was staged with funding from the Centennial Committee and the CBC. The event depended on the collective work of many local volunteers so the organizers developed an organizational structure that embodied their philosophy that everyone contributing was a significant participant. Subsequent events built on the foundation of this initial idea creating a model that heavily influenced the operation of other similar festivals in Canada, particularly 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 fe ...
and the
Edmonton Folk Festival The Edmonton Folk Music Festival (EFMF) is an annual four-day outdoor music event held the second weekend of August in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, established in 1980 by Don Whalen. The festival continues to draw many people from around the world ...
. Performers at the first festival included:


Honorary members

* Mitch Podolak (Founder/Director/Artistic Director), 1974–1975 * Colin Gorrie (Founder), 1974–1975 * Ava Kobrinsky (Founder), 1976–1989 * Nate Nurgitz (Board Legal Advisor), 1975–85 * Bill Merritt (Business/general manager), 1977–1994 * Jon Singleton (Past Treasurer), 1978–1987


Past Executive Directors

* Trudy Schroeder, 1999–2008 * Tamara Kater, 2008–2011


Past Artistic Directors

* Mitch Podolak, 1974–1986 * Rosalie Goldstein, 1987–1991 * Pierre Guérin, 1992–2000 * Rick Fenton, 2001–2004


Past President and Chairs

* Peter Stringham, 1976–1979 * Greg Brunskill, 1980 * Derek Black, 1981–1987 * Jane Graham, 1988–1990 * David Asper, 1991–1992 * Michael Handler, 1993–1995 * Brenda Prosken, 1996–1998 * Gloria Koop, 1999–2000 * Gerry Couture, 2001–2002 * Sandra Altner 2003–2004 * Terry Sargeant 2005–2009 * Allan Finkel 2010–2011 * Gerry Couture, 2012 * Mike Baudic, 2012–2015 * Karen-Denise Cyr, 2015–2017


References

{{Coord, 50.0335, -96.8801, type:event_region:CA-MB, display=title Music festivals in Winnipeg Folk festivals in Canada Music festivals established in 1974 Annual events in Winnipeg 1974 establishments in Manitoba