2018 Canadian Festival Report Card

The 2018 Canadian Festival Report Card is here, and the results are heartening.

Canadian Festival Report Card: 2018 Highlights

57 festivals were graded at an ‘A,’ up from 34 in 2017
113 festivals were graded
Every province and territory in Canada is represented in this report card
As a group, these 113 festivals get a ‘B’ grade, booking 43% women-identifying or non-binary artists (up from 36.5% women-identifying or non-binary artists in 2017)
This is a big improvement, but we have questions: are women getting headlining slots? Are racialized and LGBTQ artists getting booked? Are women, racialized people, and LGBTQ people getting paid equally in comparison to their white, straight, Cis, male peers? Are conferences, booking agencies, awards and showcases highlighting and promoting women, LGBTQ, and racialized artists? The answer is generally ‘no.’
Getting an A on this report card represents a small achievement; we’ve set the bar so low that you can step over it. Try impressing us in 2019; we believe you can do so much better.

For those of you who like sortable spreadsheets and delicious data, you can find our Google Sheets doc here.

If you’re interested in talking to Executive Director Candace Shaw about this year’s Report Card, you can contact her at candace@secretfrequency.ca
If you just want to tell her that you ‘tried really hard’ to book more women, let’s save everyone some time: she says “Try Harder.”
If you object in principle to this report card, okay. No need to email about it. We’re not even a little bit curious about which of the five weak arguments you’re going to choose to try and fail to defend your position.

If you’d like to submit a festival for inclusion in the 2019 Canadian Festival Report Card, you can click here to submit via our 2019 form.

Please note that we are not updating this list with new festivals or updated numbers, but we may note them in the 2019 report card. You can click here to submit a festival that was missed in 2018.

A 45% – 50%+ (57 festivals)

Harmony Bazaar NS – 100% (2017 – 100%)

DIY Spring Festival ON – 100%

Venus Festival ON – 100% (2017 – 92%)

Holy Smokes Music Festival ON – 94%

Femme Wave Feminist Arts Festival AB – 90% (2017 – 90%)

Burnaby Blues Festival BC – 83% (2017 – 33%)

Folk on the Rocks NWT – 83% (2017 – 57%)

In The Dead Of Winter Festival NS – 81% (2017 – 44%)

Accordion Noir Festival BC – 75% (2017 47%)

Real Love Summer Fest MB – 70%

Music City Summer Series ON – 70% (2017 – 79%)

Ottawa Explosion Weekend ON – 69% (2017 – either 54% or 33%)

Camp Wavelength ON – 68%

Campbell Bay Music Festival – 68% (2017 – 52%)

Dawson City Music Festival YK – 67% (2017 – 75%)

Regina Folk Festival SK – 63% (2017 – 53%)

Francophonie en Fête ON – 62%

Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival NS – 61% (2017 – 52%)

River and Sky Camping/Music Festival ON – 61%

Cultivate – A Festival of Food and Drink ON – 60% (2017 – 43%)

Westfest ON – 59%

Up Here Festival ON – 58% (2017 – 65%)

Flourish Festival NB – 57% (2017 – 43%)

Live From The Rock Folk and Blues Festival ON – 57% (2017 – 55%)

Vancouver Folk Music Festival BC – 56% (2017 – 38%)

South County Fair AB – 56% (2017 – 43%)

DT Concert Series ON – 56% (2017 – 6% – !!)

The Hootenanny on Hunter ON – 56% (2017 – 8% – !!)

Mariposa Folk Festival ON – 55% (2017 – 38%)

Halifax Pop Explosion NS – 55% (2017 – 51%)

Big Fun Festival MB – 55% (2017 – 40%)

Ottawa Explosion Weekend – 55% (2017 – 54%)

Tottenham Bluegrass Festival ON – 55% (2017 – 10% – !!)

Skeleton Park Arts Festival ON – 54% (2017 – 44%)

Home County Music and Art Festival ON – 53% (2017 – 69%)

Ottawa Grassroots Festival ON – 52% (2017 – 70%)

Interstellar Rodeo – Edmonton AB – 52% (2017 – 45%)

Halifax TD Jazz Festival NS – 52% (2017 – 33%)

Megaphono ON – 51%

Rainbow Trout Music Festival MB – 50%

Tay Creek Festival NB – 50% (2017 – 24%)

New Glasgow Jubliee NS – 50% (2017 – 17%)

Summerfolk ON – 50% (2017 – 49%)

Bobcaygeon Craft Beer & Food Festival ON – 50% (2017 – 50%)

The Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival ON – 50% (2017 – 56%)

Winter Folk Camp – 50% (2017 – 100%)

The Black Top Ball NS – 50% (2017 – 43%)

Paddlefest 2017 NB – 49% (2017 – 16%)

Vancouver Island Musicfest BC – 48% (2017 – 40%)

Wolf Island Music Festival ON – 48% (2017 – 53%)

Tiny Lights Festival BC – 47% (2017 – 49%)

Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival NL – 47% (2017 – 41%)

X Avant New Music Festival ON – 47% (2017 – 71%)

Lawnya Vawnya NL – 47% (2017 – 45%)

Beaumont Blues and Roots Festival AB – 47% (2017 – 50%)

Edmonton Folk Festival AB – 45% (2017 – 35%)

Winnipeg Folk Festival MB – 45% (2017 24% – 37%)

B 35% – 44% (27 festivals)

Blue Skies Festival ON – 44% (2017 – 27%)

Atlin Arts & Music Festival BC – 43% (2017 – 47%)

Breakout West BC – 43% (2017 – 38%)

Ness Creek Music Festival SK –43% (2017 – 37%)

Music Mountain Blues Fest NS – 43%

Nova Scotia Music Week NS – 43% (2017 – 34%)

Peterborough Folk Festival ON – 43% (2017 – 64%)

Sasquatch Gathering AB – 43% (2017 – 50%)

The Island Unplugged ON – 43% (2017 – 27%)

Stewart Park Festival ON – 42% (2017 – 42%)

CBC Music Festival ON – 41% (2017 – 55%)

Roncy Rocks ON – 41% (2017 – 41%)

Trout Forest Music Festival ON – 41% (2017 – 33%)

Halifax Urban Folk Festival NS – 40% (2017 – 19%)

Northern Lights Festival Boreal ON – 39% (2017 – 35%)

Rifflandia BC – 39% (2017 – 39%)

Alianait Arts Festival NT – 39% (207 – 49%)

CityFolk ON – 38% (2017 – 42%)

Hillside Festival ON – 38% (2017 – 50%)

Calgary Folk Music Festival AB – 38% (2017 – 39%)

JAZZYCC Summer Jazz Festival AB – 38% (2017 – 41%)

Stan Rogers Festival NS – 37% (2017 – 15%)

Cloggeroo – The Island Folk Festival PEI – 37%

Campobello Fogfest NB – 36%

Canadian Music Week ON – 36%

North County Fair AB – 36%

Saskatchewan Jazz Festival SK – 35% (2017 – 49%)

C 25% – 34% (16 festivals)

Ottawa RBC Bluesfest ON – 33% (2017 – 28%)

Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival ON – 33%

Shivering Songs NB – 33% (2017 – 48%)

The Islands Folk Festival BC – 33% (2017 – 51%)

Harvest Moon Festival MB – 32% (2017 – 28%)

Area 506 Festival NB – 31% (2017 – 40%)

Living Roots Festival NB – 30% (2017 – 21%)

Kempt Shore Acoustic Festival NS – 29% (2017 – 21%)

Cavendish Beach Festival PEI – 29% (2017 – 27%)

Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival NB – 26% (2017 – 18%)

Osheaga QC – 25% (2017 – 29%)

Back Lot Bash – Garrison Brewing NS – 25% (2017 – 25%)

Into the Night Festival NS – 25%

Rock the Hub NS – 25%

Toba Rock Fest MB – 25%

D – 15% – 24% (8 festivals)

Fire & Water Music Festival MB – 24% (2017 – 27%)

Iceberg Alley NL – 22% (2017 – 13%)

Music Mountain Rock Fest NS – 20%

It’s Your Festival ON – 18%

Trunk 7 Festival NS – 18%

Peterborough Music Fest ON – 17% (2017 – 12%)

Summertime Blues ON –17% (2017 – 0%)

Veld Festival ON – 15% (2017 – 2%)

F 0% – 14% (1 festival)

Ed.’s Note: I just skip ‘E’ and going straight for ‘F’ because this grade is total fail.
In 2017, there were 13 festivals in this category; we applaud everyone who raised their mark out of the gutter in 2018!

Montebello Rockfest QC – 6% (2017 – 2%)

Possibly defunct in 2018:

Ed’s Note: We couldn’t find a 2018 lineup for these festivals, but they’ve been included in previous Report Cards. You can click here to submit a festival that was missed in 2018.

Electric Eclectics ON – ? (2017 – 60%)

Shelter Valley Folk Festival ON – Festival disbanded ( 2017 – 59%)

Groundswell Music Festival – Halifax NS – ? (2017 – 50%)

Interstellar Rodeo – Winnipeg MB – ? (2017 – 39%)

Gros Morne Summer Music NL – ? (2017 – 33%)

George St. Festival NL – ? (2017 – 13%)

Bach Music Festival Of Canada ON – ? (2017 – 13%)

Locke Street Festival ON – ? (2017 – 11%)

Fork and Cork Windsor ON – ? (2017 – 5%)