Canmore Folk Fest goes back 30 years to its roots
by
Shari Bishop Bowes
The deep roots of this mountain community will be celebrated at this summer’s Canmore Folk Music Festival, coming up August 4, 5 and 6.
Celebrating its 30th year, the Folk Fest will bring generations of both folk music fans and musicians together on the Stan Rogers Stage in Canmore’s Centennial Park.
“We’re shooting for something special this year,” says Ken Rooks, artistic director for the past 17 years. “I think we’ve achieved that with this year’s line up and with a very full weekend.”
Three generations of the Bibb Family, legends in the acoustic folk-blues scene, will grace the stage; daughter Yanna, 19, will join her father Eric and grandfather Leon to share music that is acclaimed by folkies the world over.
Still along the generational theme, singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary fame, will bring inspiration gained from entertaining three generations with music for political and social change.
Earlier incarnations of Canmore’s Folk Fest have brought together musicians previously unknown to each other, and who have not only become collaborative partners, but fast friends as well.
Workshop sessions occurring during the daytime hours of the fest bring together musicians whose styles and approach may be vastly different – often leading to sheer musical magic.
Rooks grins as he recounts the tale of Eric Bibb meeting Ruthie Foster a few years back. “Eric was so enthralled he wanted to record her. So they recorded in my living room that weekend. And they did it in one take.”
After this fortuitous meeting, Bibb took Foster to the UK, where he introduced her to Martin Simpson, one of the world’s pre-eminent acoustic guitar virtuosos. All three of them eventually toured together, and they will meet again in Canmore this summer.
It’s no mistake that Rooks has done all he can to recreate the friendship and generational angle for this year’s 30th anniversary fest.
The reunion theme continues at this year's Folk Fest, with The Bibb Family coming together to perform in one of their favourite places. Yanna Bibb, 19, will join her father Eric and grandfather Leon on stage for the 30 th anniversary event.
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The very first stage at the Canmore Folk Festival, shown here in 1978 with singer-songwriter Connie Kaldor, will be recreated for a street dance at this year's 30 th annual festival.
The festival will kick off on Friday, August 3 with a dance at the historic Canmore Miners’ Union Hall, which will feature displays of festival memorabilia lent by passionate collectors for the special occasion.
The dance will extend outdoors, where musicians will entertain from the back of a decorated flatbed truck — a replication of the very first stage 30 years back.
Canmore artist Michael Vincent has been busy designing an artistic backdrop to match the scene painted for the first fest. He should know what it looks like, as he and wife Judy were original volunteers after presenting the idea to launch the first event.
Rooks expects a good turn out of many original volunteers, including the festival’s first artistic director, Pat Farrand, who is making her way to Canmore from the UK where she now lives.
The multi-generational theme of the Folk Fest also extends to the hugely family-friendly venue, which includes a large area dedicated to kids. There’s a climbing wall, a playground, craft tent, face painting and special kids’ concerts.
“Parents are very comfortable letting their kids run loose in the park,” says Rooks.
The intimate nature of Centennial Park, with its open-air stage does mean that attendance is limited, especially when compared to folk festivals in cities. Last year, 14,200 people attended over the three days of the fest — a good number, but small by comparison to festivals in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
What’s difficult to predict, though highly likely due to this special anniversary, is how many of those attending will be having reunions of their own — with friends and family, from near and far, who are returning to enjoy another weekend of great music and touch the roots of this special mountain town.
Shari Bishop Bowes is editor of SolaraLife, and contends that summer in Canmore is not complete without firmly planting yourself in your lawn chair, the stars overhead, at the Canmore Folk Music Festival.
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