The Calgary Folk Music Festival (CFMF) is back in its full form this year after almost three years of pandemic restrictions.

From July 21 to 24, Folk Fest will once again be back at Prince’s Island Park.

CFMF is a four-day annual festival that features 70 artists locally, nationally and globally. The festival is one of Canada’s flagship, trailblazing music festivals with a national and international profile and an extensive, innovative programming vision.

“Most of the artists we have coming are brand new and have never been to the festival or been to Calgary,” said Folk Fest artistic director, Kerry Clarke.

“There will be about 12 artists from Alberta, another 25 from the rest of Canada, 20 from the United States and about 15 that are based outside of North America,” she said.

According to Clarke, the festival won’t be much different than what it was back in 2019 and prior. They are down one stage due to the construction that took place on the Jaipur Bridge.

“We have two stages in operation, the main stage and the Twilight stage, which is a huge stage that probably fits about 3,000 people because a lot of standing and dancing will be happening,” said Clarke.

“We also have the new site licensing, our craft areas, artists and market, our food vendors and the top 10 in the family zone.”

Site licensing allows people to take their adult beverages to their designated tarp areas.

Year-round operation

CFMF is run by the Folk Festival Society, which is a non-profit and registered charitable organization founded in 1980 that produces music and cultural events all year.

It consists of the summer festival, CFMF since 1980, a winter festival, Block Heater since 2016, an educational programming and concerts at their own venue, Festival Hall in Inglewood, and other partner venues across Calgary.

The organization is powered by 2,000 volunteers, governed by 13 volunteer board of directors and a staff team of 13 individual who oversee the operations.

In terms of COVID-19 related restrictions, Clarke said CFMF will not be putting any different restrictions than what the Government of Alberta has already set in place.

“On our end organizationally, if people are in closed spaces, then we’re having to wear masks, and certainly if some of the audience is not comfortable and they would like to wear masks, then we certainly encourage that,” said Clarke.

“There aren’t any specific restrictions in place that are outside anything that the government has, and if they put anything new in place, we of course would.”

Clarke said that CFMF is for people of all ages to enjoy, and there are 12,000 people expected each day in attendance.

“It’s a very family-friendly event. There are performances specifically for kids and families and there’s activities,” she said.

“There are still tickets left, and we’re expecting a  really good crowd but if people haven’t yet purchased their tickets, they certainly still can.”

To attend the CFMF 2022, tickets can be purchased in advance online.