The Vancouver Folk Festival Celebrates Its 40th Year This Month (Contest Alert!)

2016 Vancouver Folk Music Festival

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival  presents one of its most exciting, rich and musically diverse rosters to date in celebration of its 40th Anniversary! From July 13-16, some of the world’s finest traditional and contemporary folk, world and roots music artists will come to spend a weekend in the urban seaside beauty of Jericho Beach Park.

Over 65 music acts with roots in more than 20 countries, twelve states and nine provinces and territories will perform on seven day and evening stages over the festival weekend. This year the festival starts on Thursday night, July 13 with a free concert in the park. Then, the festival weekend starts in earnest Friday afternoon and evening, July 14, and on Saturday and Sunday, July 15 & 16 from 10am to 11pm each day.

The Barenaked Ladies

This year’s lineup includes a number of acclaimed artists well known to fans of great music, including:

Billy Bragg and Joe Henry, Shawn Colvin, Kathleen Edwards, Rhiannon Giddens from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Barenaked Ladies. Past and recent festival favourites also return, with women’s music icon, Ferron and her All Star Band, BC treasure, Roy Forbes, African music powerhouse, Alpha Yaya Diallo, legendary labour singer, Si Kahn, and three more recent faves, Marlon Williams and the Yarra Benders, Emmanuel Jal, and the feisty Grace Petrie, are among others slated to take the stage.

Mbongwana Star

Fans of global sounds have much to anticipate, with groups like Congo’s Mbongwana Star, Colombia’s Sidestepper, Nive Nielsen & The Deer People from Greenland, Egypt’s voice of protest Ramy Essam, the voudou rhythms of Haiti’s Chouk Bwa Libète, Korrontzi from Spain’s Basque region, RURA from Scotland, and many others.

Delgres

There’s blues and bluegrass connections, old time acoustic and jug band music coming too: France’s Delgres make a Guadaloupe-Delta blues connection, and True Blues featuring Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood Heart lay it all down. There’s Tift Merritt’s brilliant rootsy sound, The Slocan Rambers’ bluegrass, New Brunswick group Tomato Tomato’s washboard folk, and the renowned jug band sounds of Jim Kweskin, coming to the festival with Meredith Axelrod.

C.R. Avery

The festival welcomes a special gathering of Indigenous music trailblazers with Native North America.  Canadian and BC artists are also well represented, with Bob Bossin, C.R. Avery, Jim Bryson, John K. Samson and the Winter Wheat, and Gabrielle Shonk among others set to perform. See the website for the full lineup.

2016 Vancouver Folk Music Festival

A wide range of food, artisan, and retail vendors, a Community Village and Little Folks Village are all features of a festival that prides itself on its family-friendliness, environmental awareness, sustainability initiatives, and accessibility. Around 1400 volunteers help to make the festival a success as it welcomes between 38,000 and 40,000 people to the park each year.

Event Information:
When: July 13 – 16, 2017
Where: Jericho Beach Park | 3941 Point Grey Road
Tickets: Buy your tickets online today!

Social: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

FREE WEEKEND PASS GIVEAWAY! WE’RE GIVING AWAY A PAIR OF WEEKEND PASSES TO THIS YEAR’S VANCOUVER FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL. SIMPLY POST A COMMENT BELOW AND BE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED TO WIN. WE’LL SELECT OUR LUCKY WINNER ON TUESDAY, JULY 11TH AND NOTIFY THE WINNER BY EMAIL. GOOD LUCK!

UPDATED TUESDAY, JULY 11TH: CONGRATULATIONS KELLY! YOU ARE THE LUCKY RECIPIENT OF A PAIR OF WEEKEND PASSES TO THIS YEAR’S VANCOUVER FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL. PLEASE CHECK YOUR INBOX FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON HOW TO GO ABOUT CLAIMING YOUR PRIZE. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO POSTED A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN. WE HOPE THAT YOU’RE ALL ABLE TO MAKE IT OUT TO THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL.