Ottawa Folk Festival
In December of 2014 Ottawa Folk Festival organizers announced a new name, along with relocation plans for Ottawa’s long-standing folk festival. The event, formerly known as the Ottawa Folk Festival, has been renamed and re-imagined as CityFolk, and will be staged at Lansdowne Park, in Ottawa, adjacent to TD Place, the home of the Ottawa RedBlacks. The CityFolk website is: www.CityFolkfestival.ca
Contents
Format
The festival books both local, national and international talent. It follows a standard format featuring major headliners, with some invited artists playing several short sets on various stages throughout the weekend, often grouped into multiple billings by topics (e.g. In the Tradition, East Meets West, etc.); this format allows for interaction and jamming between invited artists (be they established stars or newcomers). The festival is slanted toward contemporary and popular folk, bluegrass, rock and blues performers, but some traditional folk artists are invited as well (see Folk music for more on this distinction).
In addition to musical performances, the festival includes a craft beer tent, a commercial marketplace area for craft artisans, a Merchandise tent, an international food court, spoken word performances, a “KidZone” for children including separate kid-friendly programming, an “EnviroTent” to learn about and discuss green practices, and jam sessions throughout the site for audience members and artists.
Festival headliners
Festival headliners over the years have included Kendrick Lamar, Lorde, Joss Stone, Great Big Sea, Ben Harper, Bon Iver, Blue Rodeo, The Levon Helm Band, Jim Cuddy, Feist, Kris Kristofferson, Rufus Wainwright, Valdy, David Wiffen, Murray McLauchlan, Quartette, Bruce Cockburn, The Sadies, Roy Forbes, Connie Kaldor, Broken Social Scene, Martin Sexton, Jerry Douglas, Jane Siberry, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Jorane, Jesse Cook, Odetta, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, John Prine, Stephen Fearing, Richard Thompson, Buffy Sainte-Marie, La Bottine Souriante, Emmylou Harris, Arlo Guthrie, Natalie MacMaster, Steve Earle, Sarah Harmer, and Ron Sexsmith.
Awards
The Ottawa Folk Festival recognizes the contributions and achievements of a wide range of individuals to the folk festival and folk music community in Canada. The main award presented annually is the Helen Verger Award for contribution to Canadian folk music. The Galaxie Rising Star Award is presented to an up-and-coming artist, The Beth Ferguson Award is presented to an Ontario female songwriter under the age of 30 who pens songs of social relevance with an emphasis on social issues and the newest award, the Supernova Award presented by Galaxie Rising Stars Program to a deserving, emerging Canadian artist on the festival bill.
Festival organization
The festival was established in 1994 by Max Wallace (Station Manager of the community radio station CKCU-FM and the festival's Director for its first two years of operation, 1994 & 1995) and Chris White (a local singer-songwriter) and a large committee of volunteers. First held on Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's Victoria Island, it moved due to a First Nations occupation of the island to the facilities of Britannia Park in 1995 where it has remained through the 2010. The festival now has a new, more accessible home at Lansdowne Park, also in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
History
The festival was established 15 years after the demise of the Festival for the Folks (1976–1979), a previous folk festival in Ottawa. The first Festival of the Folks (1976) was held in Brewer Park and organized by Sheldon Wilner (CUSA programmer) and Jim Wright (CUSA Finance Commissioner).
The first Ottawa Folk Festival was held on Victoria Island, a small island between Ottawa and Gatineau in the Ottawa River. It ran only a single day, on August 28, 1994. Headliners on the inaugural festival included Valdy and David Wiffen. From this initial festival until 2006, the folk festival was formally known as the CKCU Ottawa Folk Festival acknowledging the support of the CKCU-FM radio station at Carleton University.[1]
In its second year, the festival moved to Britannia Park, a large park near historic Britannia village in the west end of Ottawa. Britannia Park was also home for the Festival of the Folks for its final three years, and would remain the folkfest's home until 2010. The festival was also extended to run for two days (Saturday and Sunday) that year; in 1996, it was extended to run three days beginning with Friday evening concerts.
In 1996, the festival had cash flow problems that almost broke the organization. The festival retains close ties with Arlo Guthrie who performed at the two sold-out benefit concerts in that year that enabled the festival to continue. In more recent times the festival has turned toward the inclusion of non-folk and mainstream artists (such as a 2010 performance by Arrested Development and 2005 performance by Canadian Idol Kalan Porter) in an effort to boost attendance.
The festival underwent major changes, including a venue change, again in 2011. Facing a heavy debt-load which was exacerbated by heavy rain and high winds on the final day of the festival in 2010, the festival board accepted an offer from Ottawa Bluesfest organizers to take over the running of the festival. The new management moved the festival to Hog's Back Park near Mooney's Bay along the Rideau River. The new location was felt to be more central and more accessible by transit. By this time it ran to four days of programming, starting with Thursday evening concerts and extending through Sunday.
Directors
Gene Swimmer was the Festival Director from (1996–2006). He has since retired, succeeded by Tamara Kater in 2007. At the conclusion of the 2008 festival she accepted the position of Executive Director of the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Chris White, artistic director since 1994, resigned in 2009. Dylan Griffith, former artistic director of the Dawson City Music Festival, became artistic director in January 2010, and Ottawa singer-songwriter Ana Miura became general manager of the festival. In late 2010 after a very rainy festival that saw low ticket sales, the organization accepted an offer from the Ottawa Bluesfest to create a supporting partnership, pulling the festival out of debt and increasing its artistic budget to approximately $500,000 – triple from previous years. The two festivals remain separate organizations. Mark Monahan is now festival's executive and artistic director.
Volunteers
The festival utilizes hundreds of volunteers—from stage crew to hospitality crew and beyond.
See also
References
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External links
- Ottawa Folk Festival website
- Ottawa Folk Festival Flickr Photos
