Calgary Folk Music Festival
Our marquee event
Held at Calgary's idyllic Prince’s Island Park since 1980, Calgary Folk Music Festival is one of Canada’s flagship, trailblazing music festivals with a national and international profile and a broad, cutting-edge programming vision.
Future Festival Dates
July 22 – 25, 2021 (42nd annual)
July 21 – 24, 2022 (43rd annual)
July 27 – 30, 2023 (44th annual)
A magical weekend in the heart of Calgary
The annual Festival is a four-day family-friendly cultural and musical extravaganza. Some 70 artists from Alberta, Canada, and the world perform on six daytime and two evening stages in concerts and sessions — unpredictable mash-ups where artists collaborate in unique and unexpected ways, sharing songs and stories. It’s a destination event and essential community gathering for 53,000 Calgarians and tourists, run by 2,000 community volunteers.
Artist highlights
It’s a genre-bending affair that cleverly unites roots, world and indie icons and upstarts from around the globe. Some artists the Festival has programmed include: Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nightsweats, Sheila E., Joe Jackson, Alabama Shakes, k.d. lang, Emmylou Harris, Michael Kiwanuka, David Byrne, Father John Misty, Gillian Welch, Kris Kristofferson, St. Vincent, Elvis Costello, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and Lucinda Williams.
More than music
The site on Prince's Island boasts a family area with interactive activities and live entertainment, a Talk Tent featuring comedians and spoken word artists plus other site animations, an artisan market, global culinary delights, a record tent and tree-shaded beer garden within earshot of two stages.
Our multi award-winning environment program includes recycling, composting, wind-powered energy and bicycle parking.