Edmonton Folk Music Festival

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Edmonton Folk Music Festival

View of Edmonton skyline from EFMF

Genre| Folk music
Location(s)| Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
53°32′02″N 113°28′19″W﻿ / ﻿53.534°N 113.472°W﻿ / 53.534; -113.472
Years active| 1980 - present
Founders| Don Whalen
Website| edmontonfolkfest.org

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival (often called Edmonton Folk Fest) is one of Canada’s most celebrated music festivals, held every August in Edmonton, Alberta. Founded in 1980, it takes place in Gallagher Park, a scenic hillside venue overlooking the city’s downtown skyline.

During the daytime hours of the festival, there are six active stages hosting workshops and concerts.[1] Food vendors number in the dozens, ranging from carnival fare to vegetarian and world cuisine. A tent village houses craftspeople and there is a CD tent where the performers' albums can be purchased. There is also a large and busy beer garden, which serves more beer than any other single event in western Canada.

The EFMF is a volunteer based event which keeps ticket prices down. Volunteers help conduct the festival each year, filling roles including food and drink service, venue security, and construction of the event stages.[2] There are over 2700 people on the volunteer list each year.[3]

The EFMF is held at Gallagher Park, on the southern slope of the North Saskatchewan River valley. During the winter the area is a ski club. The mainstage audience seating is a natural amphitheatre with great sightlines. The skyline of downtown Edmonton acts as a backdrop for the stage.

For two years, a fifth evening of music was added, with revenue from that concert being dedicated to the festival's endowment fund. Since 2011, the festival has been four days.

## Performers

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The Edmonton Folk Music Festival has hosted musicians from six continents, including acts from Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Mongolia, China, India, and Tuva. The majority of performers come from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

The festival showcases performers in many genres. Most years, folk, Celtic, bluegrass, blues, gospel, roots, and worldbeat acts perform. Global representation is a major part of the festival, with musicians travelling from North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia every year. Past main stage performers include k.d. lang, Joni Mitchell, Blue Rodeo, Stan Rogers, Great Big Sea, Oysterband, Loreena McKennitt, Norah Jones, Steve Earle, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, David Gray, Neko Case, Van Morrison, David Byrne, Michael Franti, Hanggai, K'Naan, Passenger, Mt. Joy, and Rainbow Kitten Surprise. In addition to mainstage and sidestage concerts by individual artists, the festival has artists collaborate on shared stages. At its earliest beginnings in the 1980s, beloved Canadian artists Sylvia Tyson, Connie Kaldor and Stan Rogers were considered, "nucleus of the first Edmonton Folk Music Festival.”[4]

Each year, the festival showcases local Edmonton performers, from youth to young adults to seasoned performers.

## History

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The first edition of the festival was organized as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of Alberta, and was held in Gold Bar Park, moving to its current venue in 1981.[5][6] 2020 was the first year in the history of the festival where the event was cancelled, due to COVID-19.

### Artistic directors

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* 1980-1985 Don Whalen
* 1986-1988 Holger Petersen
* 1989–present Terry Wickham[5]

## See also

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* Canada portal
* Music portal

* List of festivals in Edmonton
* List of festivals in Alberta
* List of music festivals in Canada
* Category:Music festivals in Canada

## References

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1. ^ " 2016 Edmonton Folk Fest an understated, wonderful weekend". Edmonton Sun, By Fish Griwkowsky. August 07, 2016
2. ^ "Volunteer Crew Descriptions – Edmonton Folk Music Festival August 8 – 11, 2024". Retrieved 2024-07-31.
3. ^ "About Us – Edmonton Folk Music Festival August 6-9, 2020". Edmontonfolkfest.org. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
4. ^ Duret, Stefan. "Edmonton Folk Fest: How Did We Get Here?". Edmonton City as Museum Project. City Museum Edmonton. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
5. ^ a b "Edmonton Folk Music Festival". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica-Dominion. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
6. ^ Birtles, Bryan (3 August 2011). "How did we get here? The origins of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival". Music Story Archive. VUE Weekly. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2011.

## Further reading

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* Campbell, Rod (1994). Playing the Field, The Story of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. Edmonton: B. Evan White Publishing. ISBN 0-9698357-0-1.

## External links

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* Edmonton Folk Music Festival Official website
* Edmonton Folk Music Festival Programs (archive)