Almost a half-century ago, a Winnipeg hippie Trotskyist cleverly convinced Manitoba’s government to invest in the start-up Winnipeg Folk Festival. A few years later, it expanded west through the Travelling Goodtime Medicine Show, seeding (among others) the Calgary Folk Music Festival.
Moving through the decades, Folk Fest (as it's affectionally referred to) grew in scale and renown. When humble young Calgary songwriter Anne Loree penned the quintessential breakup song “Insensitive,” the track was quickly adopted by acclaimed musician Jann Arden, who made it famous and has since performed at the Calgary Folk Music Festival, the Jack Singer Concert Hall, and across the world –– in Italy, audiences could be heard calling out “Insensitivo!”
Audiences loved gathering to witness the pleased reactions of international artists Lee Ann Womack, Amy Helm and Sarah Shook to Albertan songstress Mariel Buckley, an artist in one of the curated collaborations the Festival lovingly refers to as ‘arranged marriages.’ Further collaborations brought together the scrappy experimental theatre collective One Yellow Rabbit, an early resident company at Arts Commons, who programmed Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq for a live avant-garde soundtrack to Nanook of the North years after her debut at the Calgary Folk Music Festival. The two organizations, plus the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, collaborated on Acres of Dreams, which united Canadian songwriters Kris Demeanor, Wendy McNeil, Rollie Pemberton (aka Polaris Prize winner Cadence Weapon) and James Keelaghan with the symphony around songs of migration and immigration. Oh, and about 20 years ago, Festival volunteers took the initiative to gather some 200 bikes and arrange to deliver them to the performing band Ongo Trogodé’s North African village.
These are just a few true tales that exemplify the beauty and depth of Calgary’s arts community and how it’s inextricably linked. The local and global merge into one inspired and inspiring multi-disciplinary dream come to life, creating magical memories and life-long friendships across the city, across all borders.
What began those many decades ago in 1980 as a modest two-day affair on three stages has grown into the Calgary Folk Music Festival’s current incarnation — a four-day extravaganza that celebrates brilliant upstart and iconic artists from around the corner and the globe in concerts and unique collaborative sessions on eight stages, and a crucial summer gathering space for Calgarians and arts enthusiasts to volunteer, dance, and celebrate all things that make Calgary a diverse arts hub.
Calgary has long been a city of spectacle and innovation, with an arts community that excels at cross-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogues around shared understanding and collaboration. Be it performance art, live music, visual arts, comedy, or theatre — organizations like Arts Commons and the Calgary Folk Music Festival thrive on being landing pads for artists and attendees to share experiences and creative ideas at distinct Calgary venues and events. The Festival and its city-wide arts friends bring Calgary to the world and the world to Calgary, providing artists and audiences with rarefied discovery opportunities.
"To support Arts Commons is to support a hopeful future for everyone." - Nyssa Moore, Arts Commons Explorers Circle member
The Calgary Folk Fest’s history boasts layers of memorable and pivotal moments. Many of which –– like the Festival that immediately followed Calgary’s historic flood in 2013 –– are shared experiences made possible by the spirit and vitality of Calgarians gathering in the face of economic and environmental challenges. After the flood, a large crew of Festival volunteers, decked out in work boots, casual clothes and gloves (and later in well-earned blisters and sore muscles) worked alongside City staff to remove mountains of silt from the precious Island so the Festival could remain in its home just five weeks after the devastation. It’s one of the many chapters in the Festival's (and the city’s) history where community resiliency and dedication persevere.
Seasons have come and gone in the Calgary Folk Music Festival’s rich 46-year tenure, with Festival myths and tall tales (and tall waters) for the ages, but its spirit has always belonged to the passionate audience members and dedicated volunteers from Calgary and beyond. Each year, volunteers power the show — from pouring suds in the beer garden to managing and operating stages, transporting and feeding artists, setting up and tearing down the site, scanning tickets, snapping photos, and so much more. Volunteers with decades of experience under their belt span three generations — all passionately committed to crafting a deep, diverse and memorable annual musical experience.
“As a newcomer in Calgary from Mexico, I craved a welcoming community, and I found the Calgary Folk Fest was seeking volunteers. With so much joy and pride, I can say this will be my sixth year volunteering. I found that for the weekend the Festival lasts, I get immersed in a community full of support, fantastic people, amazing music and the best time.” - Sol Jara, Calgary Folk Fest volunteer
It’s the indomitable spirit of volunteerism that powers year-round events at Arts Commons, the Calgary Folk Music Festival, the National Music Centre, and many other arts organizations across the city. You might find an arts organizer with Alberta Ballet donning a Sled Island t-shirt and checking tickets at your local venue, or an Ironwood sound tech rocking the board at the Folk Fest, or a CKUA radio host helping raise money for the Youth Singers of Calgary. Although the organizations themselves have their employees and ambassadors, there are no borders to the arts involvement of those in the community — folks often find themselves donning volunteer shirts of all stripes depending on the season.
"As a young adult looking for some direction, it was exciting to join the community of friendly volunteers and music lovers at the Calgary Folk Music Festival,” says Cecilia McKay, Marketing Coordinator at Theatre Calgary. “I was inspired to become more involved in Calgary's arts scene by volunteering at other music and film festivals, where I've made lasting connections I often see across the city’s arts events.”
As the summer reaches its peak in July and organizations wax and wane their programming for the changing seasons, the city trades their cowboy boots for Birkenstocks and flocks to Prince’s Island Park — a location quickly becoming a festival hub for many of the city’s year-round programmers. With the spotlight bright each summer, the Calgary Folk Fest becomes the meeting place and weekend playground for arts enthusiasts to dance, relax, and bask in the music. Although the stage lights are certainly shining on the many artists from around the globe, the real attraction might just be the community that gathers year-over-year, from every corner of the city and country, to come together in celebration of everything that makes our city a diverse, dynamic and dedicated home for the arts.
Header photo: Jarrett Edmund