Another year of Ottawa’s CityFolk Festival wrapped up this weekend, marking the festival’s third year of being held at Lansdowne Park. Five music and art packed days drew massive crowds to the festival grounds despite the heat that was present for most of the weekend.
This year CityFolk offered two stages, one less stage from the year previous. This created a smaller line-up but overall an easier festival to navigate. It also gave fans a better chance to catch all the performers they wanted to see this year.
The first night brought a rowdy crowd despite there being only one stage open for the first day of the festival. During the beginning of the night, the City Stage had a considerable number of fans milling about for Ruth B, performer of the popular Top 40 hit “Lost Boy.”
Following Allan Rayman’s performance, the crowd intensified and almost doubled in size just as rapper Post Malone, the headliner for the night, took the stage. Fans seemed happy to be there but not very mindful of each other, many pushing and shoving each other throughout the set.
On Sept. 14, the second day of the five-day festival, a second stage was opened inside the Horticulture Building. The Ravenlaw Stage saw the likes of The Wilderness, Jenn Grant and Honey & Rust perform before folks got ready for the main headliner of the night, Jack Johnson, to play the City Stage on the Great Lawn. Johnson played a heartwarming show to a diverse crowd that seemed to leave no one without a smile.
By the next day, fans were out in full force, the grounds were crowded and the weather was amazing. From the time the gates opened, there were droves of people getting ready to witness shows on both stages, many awaiting the Canadian 90s pop star Amanda Marshall. The “Dark Horse” singer rocked a massive crowd, interacting with fans and her band, creating a real performance for festival goers.
With 11 artists playing on Sept. 16, it was by far the most hectic day of the festival. Fans were pressed up against the barrier of the City Stage awaiting the arrival of Joshua Tillman, more commonly known as Father John Misty. He played at 9 p.m., and brought in a crowd of fans as devoted to him as children’s singer Fred Penner did with both of his shows that he performed earlier that day on the Ravenlaw Stage.
Sunday rounded out the festival, still with many festival goers crowding the grounds waiting for Bahamas to play the City Stage. Rodriguez, the headliner for the night, closed out the City Stage before Scott Helman closed both the Ravenlaw Stage and the festival.
Despite blisteringly hot weather, a few rowdy crowds and predictably over-priced beer, CityFolk has done it again. The venue was great, and the artists were even greater. Until next year, CityFolk.
