It’s an annual May tradition. The phones are ringing off the hook at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and the Festival Music Store is packed with eager Festival-goers.
The Winnipeg Folk Festival may be July 10-13, but there’s another important date too: much of the Festival’s audience wouldn’t miss the May 31 Early Bird Deadline for the world. Until this Saturday only, adult weekend passes are $147 plus service charges. The price goes up to $168 plus charges as soon as the calendar flips over to June. Youth, senior, and single-day passes also all increase in price on June 1.
Each year the the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the Exchange District Biz team up to bring free entertainment to Old Market Square. This year, The Bedford Investments Music in the Market Concert Series happens on both Thursdays and Fridays from June 5 to July 10, from noon to 1 pm. The last concert, with Festival performers Outlaw Social, will mark the kick-off of the 2008 Winnipeg Folk Festival! Continue reading ‘Bedford Investments Music in the Market Concert Series’
At home in Minnesota, Spider John Koerner turns his eyes to the skies, building telescopes from scratch. As a musician, however, his gaze goes the other way. Since getting his start in Minneapolis’ booming ‘60s coffeehouse scene, Koerner has specialized in earthy, even humble acoustic folk and blues. But though Koerner’s music may be grounded, others consider him a star: Bob Dylan and Bonnie Raitt (who famously covered Koerner’s “I Ain’t Blue”) name him as an influence, and David Bowie cited the classic Blues, Rags and Hollers album (with legendary trio Koerner, Ray & Glover) as one of his all-time faves. But though Koerner maintains a lower profile than his famous contemporaries, his rock-solid chops, lighthearted performances, and massive catalogue of top-notch tunes announce him as a master of his craft.
Legendary union activist and folk singer Utah Phillips died on Friday after a long struggle with heart disease. Phillips played at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1990, and 2004. Story here.
You ain’t never heard pedal steel like this before. Robert Randolph grew up playing the guitar in a New Jersey church, but when he stepped out of the sanctuary, his music went from divine to dynamite. Joined onstage by his cousins and keyboardist Jason Crosby, Randolph’s virtuoso fingers blaze through everything hard-hitting rock-blues, funky soul tunes, and gospel-inflected ballads. The sound is huge, and the buzz is even bigger: Rolling Stone named Randolph one of the Top 100 guitarists of all time; ABC TV asked him to pen the theme song for a season of NBA games. Even better, Eric Clapton was so impressed by Randolph’s furious “sacred steel” that he took Randolph on tour and sat in on the Family Band’s 2006’s Colourblind album.
Listen to Robert Randolph and the Family Band using the widget below, or visit these pages:.
Do you love the Winnipeg Folk Festival? Then we want to hear from you!!
Send us an email and tell us your own personal “reason to love the Folk Festival”. You could win some Festival merchandise AND a prime tarp spot in front of the Main Stage on the night of your choice at the 2008 festival!
Deadline for entries is midnight on Friday, June 27. Winners will be notified by Friday, July 4.
Please email your entry to specialprojects@winnipegfolkfestival.ca and be sure to put “What’s Your Reason? Contest” in the subject line. Please include your name, address, and daytime phone number. If you are under 18 years of age, you will need parental consent in order to be eligible. One entry per person please.
Please note: By sending us your entry, you give us permission to publish your name and ‘reason’ and to contact you for further information, if needed. To be eligible, entries must be publishable so send us a ‘reason’ you’d be proud to show your mom!
In no particular order, here are 35 things we’re doing to celebrate the 35th annual Winnipeg Folk Festival!
Bigger artistic budget: Best. Festival. Ever!
“Light the Way” campaign: receive a mini-LED lantern as a gift with a minimum $135 donation
New LED screen at Main Stage: the “big screen” will be visible in daylight.
New tent covering Snowberry and Big Bluestem Stages
Enhanced campground installations and activities
New tents for the Festival Hub and at the Folk School
Main Stage Music moves to the Festival Hub. Now you’ll be able to pick up CDs by that evening’s performers at the same place you buy your souvenirs and sundries.
If all you’re expecting from Dobet Gnahoré is a breathtaking outpouring of African song, then you won’t be disappointed; but there’s so much more to her performance than voice and rhythm alone. Continue reading ‘Featured Artist: Dobet Gnahoré’
Last week was a big one for awards going to Festival friends. Congratulations all around to award winners Trudy Schroeder, Jane Polak Scowcroft, Relish Design Studios and to our Festival photographers! Continue reading ‘Awards, Awards, Awards’
This year, the alternative evening stage (previously known as the Firefly Palace) has expanded and made a move to Big Bluestem Stage. If you’re in the mood for something “on the fringe of folk,” check out the Big Blue at Night Lineup; Continue reading ‘Big Blue at Night Lineup’
Celebrate 35 years of gathering in beautiful Birds Hill Park, meeting friends, discovering new music and enjoying old favorites.
The exuberance and anticipation of the
early morning tarp tradition, enjoying the family area, dancing the night away at the main stage, the final notes of the Festival coming to an end for another year: remember it all every time you wear this work of art.
Carry the spirit of the Festival! The 35th Anniversary Lorna Jacket is available only by special order through the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
Order by June 20th to have your jacket delivered in time to wear it to the festival!
Jackets can also be ordered at the Festival “Hub” on site.
It’s finally here! The Festival is pleased to announce its 35th annual Main Stage lineup. Subject to change, of course. Check out the widget below to hear samples from some of our main stage artists.
The following includes only the full sets. Artists playing short sets on the Main Stage haven’t been announced yet.
A film about the notorious Bob Dylan obsessive, whose forays into Dylan’s texts (and trash) led to a famous series of mutually insulting telephone conversations. Continue reading ‘THE BALLAD OF AJ WEBERMAN’
Don’t be left out!
