For Immediate Release: June 22, 2017
Media Contact: Gwen Kallio: | 604-215-2345 | 778-245-4936
To request VFMF media accreditationaccess images, click HERE.
To request access to VFMF 2017 music dropbox, email
VANCOUVER FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES
THE LINEUP FOR THURSDAY NIGHT, JULY 13!
Canada Far & Wide: GrandsEsprits
Thursday, July 13
7:00pm (gates open at 6)
Main Stage, Jericho Beach Park
FREE! Reserve tickets at
The Vancouver Folk Music Festival has teamed up with fellow folk festivals in Winnipeg, Calgary, Canmore, and Regina to curate a groundbreaking live touring collaborative project calledCanada Far & Wide: GrandsEsprits - a celebration of the Canadian songbook.
On Thursday, July 13 the VFMF presents the results of this remarkable initiative to Vancouver!
This free, festival-opening evening concert showcases an eclectic range of amazing Canadian artists performing songs written by some of Canada's most renowned and talented composers - and making each of those songs their own!
The evening features performances by CrisDerksen, Mélisande[électrotrad], Cold Specks, C.R. Avery, Katie Moore, Jim Byrnes, Women in the Round, Carolyn Mark, Choir! Choir! Choir!, Leonard Podolak, The Funk Hunters and Paul Pigat.
You'll hear the much-loved songs of renowned composers with surnames like: Aglukark, Bolduc, Cockburn, Cohen, Lightfoot, McGarrigle, Mitchell, Rogers, Sainte-Marie, Snow, and Tyson - along with songs penned by Ferron, K'naan, Arcade Fire, Blue Rodeo and Spirit of the West.
Hear Cold Specks' take on Feist's"Feel It All", and who doesn't want to catchJim Byrnes' version of Gene MacLellan's composition, and Anne Murray's iconic hit,"Snowbird". See what C.R. Avery does with Stompin' Tom's "Sudbury Saturday Night", and hear a rendition of Parachute Club's anthemic hit, "Rise Up", by the powerful Indigenous women's voices of Women in the Round (Sandy Scofield, Dalannah Gail Bowen, Andrea Menard and RenaeMorrisseau).*
And the audience gets to be part of the show, too! Choir!Choir!Choir! will lead us in sing-alongs, belting out Neil Young's "Harvest Moon", Tragically Hip's "Ahead by a Century", and Leonard Cohen's heart-stopping "Hallelujah".
What an amazing night of song it's going to be - a night to celebrate the festival's 40th birthday - a night to remember for the next 150 years!
Tickets are FREE! To reserve, go to
For the full list of who is singing what, click HERE! | *program and content subject to change
Thursday night's concert opens the 40th Anniversary Vancouver Folk Music Festival, which runs to July 16 at Jericho Beach Park. The festival features over 65 music acts from 20+ countries on seven beachfront stages. Evening Main Stage concerts, the full roster of artists and descriptions and other festival information can be found at
Daytime workshop and concert schedules for Friday, Saturday and Sunday July 14-16 will be posted on the festival website before the end of June.
CANADA FAR & WIDE: BACKGROUNDER
The Vancouver Folk Music Festival has partnered with Calgary, Canmore, Regina and Winnipeg Folk Festivals for a special Canada 150+ project:Canada Far & Wide: Grand Esprits.This collaboratively curated project celebrates key songs from Canada’s history, performed by seasoned and emerging artists. Each artist selects three songs to perform from a quintessentially Canadian songbook selected by the five artistic directors of the participating folk festivals.
Canada Far & Wide: GrandsEspritswas curatedto ensure a diversity of voices and artistry, while keeping the focus on Canada's history, both positiveand challenging. Indigenous songwriters have contributed key songs to the songbook and First Nations artists are integral to the live performance of the project.
"The songs chosen celebrate diverse genres, cultures, regions, traditions, and generations. Plus, we included key compositions by Canadian trailblazers like Joni Mitchell, Hank Snow, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Leonard Cohen. But, we really wanted to mess with genres and perspectives with these songs, and bring them into new forms while celebrating their narratives and history" explainsArtistic DirectorKerry Clarkefrom theCalgary Folk Music Festivalon behalf of the festivals involved.
Anchored by Cree cellistCrisDerksen, andQuebec'sMélisande[électrotrad], both performing across Canada, each festival's concert also features a unique roster of artists. Concerts start July 5 and run to August 13, 2017.
Through the power of songand the magic of music festivals, this project invites us all to come together to celebrate the talented composers and singers who have given Canadians the soundtrack to our lives. As we share this night of music, the hope is that it will inspire us all to work together to create a better, more inclusive, Canada.
This project has been funded in part by the Government of Canadathroughthe Department of Canadian Heritage and is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts' New Chapter initiative. With this $35M initiative, the Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada. To read the national media release for Far & Wide, please click HERE.
Media Contact:
Gwen Kallio: | 604-215-2345 | 778-245-4936
To request VFMF media accreditation & access images, click HERE.
To request access to the VFMF 2017 music dropbox, email: