The Canadian Folk Music Awards are set to return to Calgary for the first time in eight years, setting the stage for four days and nights celebrating the best in all types of folk music.

The decision to bring the awards back to Calgary was largely due to the healthy interest that Calgarians have in folk music.

Beyond just the internationally renowned Folk Fest held every year in July, the city hosts nine different folk clubs and concert presentation societies, 15 concert venues, and eight house concert presenters.

“This is folk city. We’ve been here twice before. Every single time, it’s been a different show, but it’s been beautiful and brilliant. Every time, the people here are amazing, and we just love it,” said Graham Lindsey, President of the Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA).

He said that what separates their awards from other awards is the shift in focus away from the awards themselves into championing the folk music industry.

“What we do is we’ve got multiple performers per show, and they don’t just play one song. Each will play two or three songs, and then an award or two will be handed out, and then during the switch over, they get to play more,” Lindsey said.

“You’re really in the action the whole time, and you get entertained the whole night, and it’s all first class.”

Vic Close, Artistic Director of Fish Creek Concerts and the local organizing chair for the 2025 CFMA, said that there was nothing like the folk music scene that is happening in Calgary anywhere else in North America.

“We find that out when we travel, musicians want to come here to play. We’ve got venues, we’ve got great live audiences,” Close said.

He said the awards would be hosted at the Westin Hotel, and that talks were taking place to hold concerts at the National Music Centre and the Bella Concert Hall at MRU.

“Each of our four gala concerts will feature a selection from our curated lineup of 20 to 25 performers, chosen from an incredibly diverse selection of nominees. Last year alone, we had 85 to choose from, and it was difficult to say the least,” Close said.

“Canada truly has world-class talent. It’s just mind-blowing when you watch all the videos. The weekend will be more than just concerts. Expect panel discussions, late-night showcases, and performing opportunities for nominees not featured in the galas.”

He said that one of the features of the 2024 CFMA in Ottawa was a traditional music jam session that featured 45 performers joining in—something the awards are hoping to beat in 2026.

Important for musicians, and for the folk music industry

Lindsey said that another big part of the awards was the export development program, which connects folk musicians with other aspects of the folk music industry.

“The whole purpose of the export development program that we run is so that the musicians will get work at the folk clubs, the folk festivals, whether they’re from here or across the country or from abroad,” he said.

“The whole hope is that it will connect people. We facilitate the matchmaking, so that folk festival lineups and folk everything can happen. So it’s really important for all the different presenters to hear, but it’s also critical for the musicians as well.”

That export development program has been used by the Calgary Folk Music Festival to book performers.

Suze Casey, a former board member for the CFMAs and a co-founder of the Calgary Folk Music Festival, said that one of the things that she has really enjoyed about the awards has been the emphasis on collaboration over competition.

“We don’t have the competition thing. What we do is we actually live the tenets of the folk music world, which is brotherhood, peace, connection, kindness. For that, I’m really excited. When the Folk Music Awards first started, there were a lot of people that said, ‘oh, shouldn’t be a competition,’ and it’s not,” Casey said.

“CFMAs are a celebration of the music and a way for us to let the rest of the world know what we do and welcome them in. There are no winners and losers. They’re our recipients, and that’s a really important basic aspect of the awards. This is not pitting one against the other, but rather raising everyone up.”

Each of the awards is blind judged by professionals who are experts in each of the categories, and that has meant no lobbying for particular artists among judges.

As part of the announcement, three local Calgarians were inducted into the CFMA’s Order of Folk. Long-time volunteers Ruth Lund and John Lund, the longest-serving volunteers of the Calgary Folk Music Festival, and CKUA host of Folk Routes, Tom Coxworth.

The Canadian Folk Music Festival Awards run from April 9 through 12, 2026.

The awards are being sponsored by Tourism Calgary, The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recording (FACTOR), the Government of Canada, and Alberta Music, among others.

For more details, see folkawards.ca.