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I’ve arrived in Calgary (after a bitch of a flight) to discover that everything they told me is true; the Canadian folk festivals really do look after you like no one else. I got met at the airport and taken to a seriously posh hotel, complete with pool. A bell boy even took my bags up to my room (after I established he wasn’t stealing them). To top it all, my attempts to ask someone directions to a guitar shop to buy some strings has led to someone going to get them for me. Madness.”

Frank Turner, 2010

The deadlne has passed for submissions to the 2012 festival. We accept submissions from Sept 1 - Dec 15 annually.

Festival Dates and Programming Details

The 33rd annual Calgary Folk Music Festival is July 26-29, 2012 at Prince's Island Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Of the 65+ artists programmed annually, about half are Canadian (with approximately 12 artists from Alberta), a third are from the U.S., and the rest are international (outside North America). Our Festival presents a wide diversity of artists and musical genres. Artists perform concerts and participate in sessions (mash-ups and songwriter-in-the-rounds) on 7 stages at Prince's Island. There are over 100 unique performances over the weekend.

The Festival's programming process

Each fall, we begin with priority lists that far exceed the number of artists we can realistically program and then discover more wonderful music by keeping our ears and eyes open. We review the overall mix of the line-up as we go through the organic programming process and hire artists based on the strength of their performances and material plus their fit with our international event. We usually avoid repeating artists over several years to give others an opportunity and to present a fresh program to the audience.

Do you fit here?

  • We aim to put together a very strong, multi-faceted artistic program that combines some of the finest original: roots, world music, country, alternative, blues, funk, dub, bluegrass, celtic, traditional (and more) artists from our own backyard and the globe.
  • Artists have to make a pretty profound impression on us. The best way to get our attention is to write many very strong songs that stand out lyrically and melodically, get years of live performance experience, and develop an audience base.
  • Do the math. We're in the midst of a roots music explosion. There are thousands of artists, from our own backyard and way beyond, that are ready to perform at our international, collaborative festival. Often the artists we book one year are those who have been on priority lists for several years. That's our privilege and dilemma...many great artists for a small number of programming spots.

 The Calgary Folk Music Festival receives over 2000 submissions a year from people hoping to perform and programs 65 artists, only a tiny percentage of which are from unsolicited applications. Add to those artists whose music we're already familiar with, plus the music we see at festivals, conferences, cafes etc and hear/read about and there are about 2000 potential artists we could program.

How To Let Us Know What You're All About

If you’d like us to consider an artist, please send us:

If we’d like you to follow up with a CD, we’ll be in touch with you. Please let us know if we have an opportunity to see you live in Calgary during the year, but DO NOT add us to your ongoing e-mail newsletter lists.

Canadian artists

If you’re planning to apply for a Canada Council travel grant, contact us at least 6 weeks prior to the December 1 deadline.

International artists

We only book about 10 overseas groups a year; usually in conjunction with other festivals and after seeing them live at conferences like Womex.   We can only program overseas artists who work with an agent who has the ability to acquire visas, arrange travel and book other shows in North America. Projects are usually worked on several years in advance of a performance so it often takes us years (if ever) before we can book groups we're interested in having here.  We aren't able to cover international travel costs.

Local (Alberta) Artists

Approximately 1/5 of our line-up is from Alberta. Local artists are hired based on the strength of their performance and material as well as their readiness to play at, and fit with, our international event. Priorities are artists of a very high calibre who have released several professional CDs, have a website and significant live performance experience here and outside Alberta. A local "buzz" doesn't hurt. As most performance spots are collaborative, our requirements are pretty specific and unique. We try our best to see local artists live in the fall and winter, after first hearing a recording. Of course, there are many more Alberta artists that we'd like to have play the festival than we can accommodate in several years. It's wise to attend the Festival prior to applying to perform, to get a feel for the caliber and nature of the event and what is expected of Festival performers.

Application Follow-up

Booking is normally completed by late February.  If you haven't heard from us by then you can assume that we weren't able to include you in the line-up. As we have a mind-boggling number of great options for only 68 spots, you should keep your expectations of inclusion very low.

Visit http://www.calgaryfolkfest.com/artists/archives to see who we’ve programmed over our 32-year history.