Canterbury Folk Festival starts Thursday
Posted 7 months ago
The 10th anniversary of Ingersoll's Canterbury Folk Festival will be celebrated with gusto this weekend.
This year's festival has been extended to four days, Thursday to Sunday, and will be a reunion of sorts.
"All of the artists have played at the festival before and are thrilled to be invited back," said festival founder and organizer Ted Comiskey.
"Nowhere in Canada can you see this caliber of live music for free," Comiskey says of the 36 musical artists lined up for this weekend's event.
Folk icon and June award winner Valdy is featured on Thursday, the opening night. Lennie Gallant, recently inducted into the Order of Canada and multiple winner of East Coast Music Award is featured Friday night. Saturday evening brings the return of the exciting sounds of world musician Pavlo who is renowned for his fusion of flamenco, Latin and Greek music. Murray McLaughlan who is unabashedly passionate about Canada in his music and winner of 11 Junos plays Sunday afternoon.
Six stages are set up downtown and in Yvonne Holmes Mott Memorial Park, the festival's home base.
Comiskey said Canterbury's longevity and success are due to a number of factors.
One of the big draws is that the festival is -and always has been -a free event. There is no admission charge to attend and see all the great performances. Hats are passed through the crowds each day for donations, but otherwise the festival depends on grants.
A crew of hundreds of volunteers comes out in force to do whatever needs to be done.
Comiskey said the first festival cost $8,000 to operate. Costs have ballooned to over $80,000.
Another draw is that the festival is an event the whole family can enjoy. The kids' stage draws a large younger crowd and gets children as involved in the music as the rest of the family. The seniors' tea room has always had great support and vendors on site have something for all ages.
Canterbury's workshops downtown at the gazebo spread the activity to the local businesses, which have long supported the festival.
"None of this could be done without a hardworking committee and hundreds of very special volunteers who give their time and energy to make this festival work," said Comiskey. "The business and industrial sponsors, the Town of Ingersoll and the BIA have been behind this festival from the start and deserve a great big thank you for keeping the festival thriving."
For more information, see the centre pages of this week's Ingersoll Times or www.canterburyfolkfestival.on.ca.
