The Canmore Folk Music Festival is the longest running folk music festival in Alberta and one of its finest. Adhering to a philosophy and legacy of folk, world, blues and roots music, the festival since 1978 has attracted up to 21,000 music fans annually from across southern Alberta, western Canada, the northwestern USA and indeed the world. Its venue is the downtown Centennial Park in the heart of Canmore’s valley bottom. Surrounded on all sides by the majestic Rocky Mountains, the backdrop of breathtaking scenery merely enhances the incredible music pouring forth from three stages all weekend long. Taking place over three days of the Heritage Day long weekend in August, the festival features 18 individual acts or performers, an alcohol-free, family-friendly site, a free children’s concert on the Saturday afternoon, a free downtown street dance on the Friday evening and a kids’ area jammed with crafts, puppets, theater, bouncy castle and climbing wall. The workshop stages partner up eclectic mixings of musicians from disparate and diverse backgrounds, often resulting in that ephemeral “lightning in a bottle” sound that will never be recreated twice. Each evening the main stage concert features six hours and six performances highlighting the best of what each has to offer. We also have a pub venue within short walking distance. Every year more than 550 volunteers come together to make the Canmore Folk Festival the huge success it is. Collectively they donate more than 4,500 hours of free labour. Over the years the Canmore Folk Music Festival has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the local community through outreach programs in the schools, the construction of the landmark Stan Rogers Stage in Centennial Park, infrastructure upgrades to the park, the development of musical scholarships for students, and songwriting workshops for both youth and adults. MISSION STATEMENT Creating a community through a shared love of folk music.
