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Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival
Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival (Owen Sound, ON) is a dynamic annual folk music & crafts festival presented by The Georgian Bay Folk Society, a cultural organization run by volunteers, that presents, promotes and encourages folk music and other folk arts in the community at large. They’ve received an ‘A’ grade on the Canadian Festival Report Card for the past three years. Visit their website for tickets and lineup info! https://summerfolk.org/
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Blue Skies
Blue Skies Music Festival Community (unofficial) (Clarendon, ON) began with a picnic. It was a beautiful summer weekend in the early ’70’s. A few friends got together to enjoy the weather, each other’s company and a spectacular natural amphitheatre surrounded by pristine wilderness. Over the years, Blue Skies has evolved in its own, quirky way. With an organizational structure more like a group of friends than a board of directors, and an eye to staying small and manageable rather than big and money-making, Blue Skies has developed its own way of doing things. Blue Skies received an ‘A’ grade on the Canadian Festival Report Card in 2019. Visit their website…
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Artist Spotlight: Witch Prophet
Witch Prophet is a queer, Ethiopian/Eritrean, singer-songwriter, the CO-CEO of Heart Lake Records and member of feminist-based electro/grunge/dub-hop group ‘Above Top Secret’. She provides her fans with a soundscape of vocal layers, loops, raps and harmonies on a bed of hip-hop, house and soul-inspired beats. Think Erykah Badu meets Lauryn Hill meets Jill Scott. Her widely-anticipated album “D.N.A Activation”was released March 2020 to critical acclaim. An Ethio Jazz/RnB/Hip-Hop fusion with songs sung in English, Amharic, and Tigrinya. A collection of sounds co-produced by SUN SUN and Witch Prophet, named and inspired after Witch Prophet’s family, biblical stories, myths and her Ethiopian, Eritrean roots. To buy her music or learn more…
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Hillside Festival
The Hillside Festival(Guelph, ON) July 24-26, is a three-day, multi-stage event with a broad artistic vision that emphasizes diversity: of culture, of musical heritage and style, of age, geography and influence. Set in a beautiful, accessible conservation area with campgrounds on Guelph Lake, this summer festival is world-renowned as one of Canada’s most progressive, environmentally conscious, and completely non-commercial community celebrations. They create a village on Guelph Lake Island that fills with music, dance, drumming, food, crafts, and more. Hillside Festival has received an ‘A’ grade on the Canadian Festival Report Card in 2019 and 2017. Visit their website for tickets and lineup info! http://hillsidefestival.ca/
You May Also Like
Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival
Winter Folk Camp
Calgary Folk Music Festival
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Artist Spotlight: Evangeline Gentle
Rich, sweet, and lush with vibrato. These are only a few of the unmistakable qualities that constitute Evangeline Gentle’s fervent timbre. But make no mistake; they are more than an accomplished voice – their songwriting possesses authenticity and depth as rare and unique as their own journey. Born on the Northeast coast of Scotland, Evangeline has live performance in their blood. Queer, and passionate about social justice, Evangeline believes in the good-naturedness of people and our capabilities of growing together. At only 23 years of age, Evangeline’s accolades are already accumulating at an impressive rate. They were awarded Emerging Artist at the 2015 Peterborough Folk Fest, Best Female Vocalist of…
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Artist Spotlight: Rakkatak
Rakkatak merges classical Indian rhythms and melodies with a pop music aesthetic. The concept started as Anita Katakkar‘s solo project in 2009, out of her need to share the subtle beauty of tabla in a non-traditional way. A year later, Rakkatak morphed into a musical partnership with bassist Oriana Barbarto and guest musicians including: Lisa Patterson, Morgan Doctor, Dino Toledo, Samidha Joglekar and Rex Van der Spuy. Rakkatak released their third album “Small Pieces” in April 2017 and will be releasing their fourth album in the fall of 2020 featuring master vocalist Pratik Rao, bansuri player Hasheel Lodhia, violinist Jessica Deutsch and multi-faceted musician Zaynab Wilson. Rakkatak aims to: serve…
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River & Sky Music Festival
River & Sky Music Festival (Fisher’s Paradise, ON) July 22-26, brings you simple good times, with the best Canadian Indie and Northern Ontario camping, along the Sturgeon River. Since their inception in 2009, R&S strives to support regional emerging artists in Northeastern Ontario and to showcase their talents alongside amazing artists from across Canada and beyond. While River & Sky is not a folk festival, it does have a folky feel. You won’t find expensive bouncy things for kids or a beer tent. Bring your own lawn chair and a cold canned beverage and relax. Friend and family friendly, it’s a simple festival that is all about the music, the…
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Artist Spotlight: SATE
Combining blistering hard rock with gritty blues, SATE is an artist who it’s impossible to ignore. Her music leaves you exhausted but leaves a fire burning in your soul that wasn’t there before. Toronto’s NOW Magazine described her as having “a tornado of a stage presence,” while Lithium’s live reviewer proclaimed, “I can tell you sincerely that she is one of the most resounding artists I’ve heard.” When each show inevitably reaches its climax with the indelible image of SATE, fist in the air, and an entire audience raising its hands in unity, the full spectrum of human emotions—anger, joy, vulnerability—suddenly comes into sharp focus through the music. SATE has…
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Artist Spotlight: Bonjay
Dancehall-bred. Orchestrated like old soul. Driven by emotive vocals inspired as much by Feist as by Yolanda Adams. There’s a rawness to Bonjay: to the feelings, to the voice, to the sounds clashing. It sounds like something new. In cities and suburbs around the world, the next generation of young musicians are emerging. Inspired by the underground music of the last 30 years, they are unencumbered by the restrictions of style and attitude that traditionally divided genres. Cities that once tried to emulate New York or London are coming to the forefront, newly confident in their local blends. The youth are coming into their own, cheering the home team, celebrating…
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Artist Spotlight: Luna Li
There was never really another option for Toronto’s fiercely feminist rock n’ roll moon fairy Luna Li. “I always knew that I was going to go into music,” she says. Listening to Luna Li is the moment you hang suspended between dream and a haziness, or when you’re dancing through a slight tipsiness. You feel beautiful, confident, happy. This is Luna Li and she’s here to help you love. Luna Li is making changes to create an inclusive and safe music scene for all people. Her shows aim to create a supportive environment where everyone and anyone can feel welcome. This oracular skill of Luna Li has brightened Toronto’s uniform…
