Edmonton Folk Music Festival

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The Edmonton Folk Music Festival is an annual four-day outdoor event held the second weekend in August in Gallagher Park just across the river from downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It features performances from folk musicians. Beginning in 1960, the festival continues to draw many people from around the world as both spectators and performers. The current producer of the festival is Terry Wickham.

The Festival showcases celtic, bluegrass, blues, gospel, roots, world beat and singer/songwriters, with some country and R&B thrown into the mix. It manages to combine the talents of these quality folk music artists, with their diverse origins and musical traditions, in workshop sessions, which enable performers to jam together in front of an audience. The main attractions of the festival are the Main Stage performances, which happen on each of the four evenings and go on late into the night. Some of the previous main stage performers have included k.d. lang, Joni Mitchell, Stan Rogers, Great Big Sea, Oysterband, Loreena McKennitt, Norah Jones, Steve Earle, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, David Gray, David Byrne and Michael Franti.

During the days of the festival, there are six active stages, hosting workshops and concerts. One stage is devoted to children's entertainment and there is a supervised area for kids that runs through the days. Food vendors number in the dozens, ranging from carnival fare to vegetarian and world cuisine. A large tent houses craftspeople and there is a CD tent where albums from performing artists - past and present - can be purchased. There's also a beer garden, special transit service to and from the festival site, and just about anything else you'd find in a village!

What really sets the EFMF apart is the army of volunteers who make it happen every year. They do everything from picking garbage to working as stage hands. There are approximately 2000 people on the voluteer list each year. Many are returning for their tenth and fifteenth festivals, and some come from as far away as Scotland to volunteer. There are about a dozen people who have been there from the start in 1980. In return for their minimum sixteen hours of labour they are fed, and fed well courtesy of the volunteer festival kitchen crew, get admission to the whole show, and are treated to three late night parties featuring performers from the festival.

The EFMF is held on the banks of the North Saskatchewan river. During the winter the area is a ski club. The main stage and the six session stages are each at the bottom of the Edmonton 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. On balmy summer nights, the sun sets right behind the city. It's a magic view.

The quality of the artistic direction, the venue, and the commitment of the volunteers work together to provide the festival goer with an enriching, low hassle experience. If you're going to be in northern Alberta in August, you have to take in the EFMF.