Whether you came to party at Block Heater or missed out on all the fun - we want to hear from you! Take our 10 minute survey and enter to win two 4 day passes for our Summer Festival! We value your feedback and appreciate every folkie taking a moment to respond.
The Calgary Folk Music Festival’s 11th annual winter celebration began with its kick-off party at Festival Hall on February 5 and moved to The Confluence on February 6–7, 2026 — where the Bow and Elbow rivers meet, and where music and community collided for an all-encompassing winter wonderland filled with great vibes, local food vendors, horse drawn wagon rides, kids programming, firepits, and all sorts of folkie family fun.
Festival-goers grooved under a large heated tent and across three indoor stages with tunes that melted the frost right off their toques. From marquee artists to emerging local gems, Block Heater was the festival’s frosty answer to our summer celebration of fun — a chance to plug in, chill out, and dance off those winter blues.
The festival featured headlining performances by Cedric Burnside, Field Guide, Fruit Bats (solo), Goldie Boutilier, Jeremie Albino, Joel Plaskett, and The War and Treaty.
We are already excited for next year!
The Calgary Folk Music Festival is one of Canada’s flagship, trailblazing music festivals. It's been held annually since 1980 at the beautiful Prince’s Island Park in Calgary, Alberta.
Our broad, cutting-edge programming boasts 70+ artists from near and far playing on seven stages in concerts and collaborative sessions featuring everything from folk to funk to global sounds and fresh hip hop.
The Calgary Folk Music Festival returns July 23–26. 2026, powered by ATB.
Our beautiful event space in the heart of historic Inglewood is available to be rented for Calgary’s cultural community and for corporate and private functions.
It’s been 45+ years of music, magic and memories. What began in 1980 as a modest two-day affair on three stages has grown into the Calgary Folk Music Festival’s current incarnation — a four-day extravaganza that highlights brilliant upstart and iconic artists from around the corner and the globe in concerts and our unique collaborative sessions on eight stages, plus Block Heater and other year-round programming.
Huge thank you from the bottom of our hearts to all our incredible vols — you absolutely knocked it out of the park this year
We hope everyone is getting some much deserved rest. See you next year!
Heather Buchanan is an artist, illustrator, and author based in Calgary Alberta. Her art deals with the human condition—specifically the condition of being a human who is barely hanging on in these wild and bewildering times. She has worked with clients like Netflix, Virgin, and the Globe and Mail, as well as local companies like High Line Brewing, Calgary Co-op, and Purr. That said, you’re more likely to see her work framed and hanging above the toilet in your best friend’s bathroom. Not only does Heather make art about the unfathomable mysteries of human behaviour, she occasionally participates in them. You can find her talking to herself in the garden, doing crosswords with her husband and cat, and microwaving the same cup of tea over and over.
