Carleton students can consider themselves neighbours of the Ottawa Folk Festival this year, as it will be held at Hog’s Back Park, just walking distance from campus.
The 18th annual Folkfest is bringing artists from all across Canada — Vancouver-based Said the Whale and Montreal’s Patrick Watson are slated to perform in the five-day event Sept. 6-10.
Traditionally, Carleton has held a large concert for students during frosh week. This year students will have the option to attend the Ottawa Folk Festival in addition to the K’Naan concert during frosh week.
Carleton students will also be able to purchase subsidized tickets for Sept. 8 and 10 from the CUSA office.
University of Ottawa and Algonquin College students will also benefit from the discount, with U of O students receiving discounted tickets for Sept. 9 and 10. Algonquin College students are eligible for discounted tickets on Sept. 10.
Mark Monahan, executive director of the Ottawa Bluesfest, will be returning as festival supervisor at the Ottawa Folk Festival.
He said the experience with his team at Bluesfest has helped him in securing acts.
This year’s acts, however, are intended to draw in a younger demographic.
“I think more of the artists have an appeal to the younger crowd,” Monahan said, in light of a festival whose last few years have included indie favourites of the 2000s.
The festival isn’t short on international artists, ranging from American indie-folk favourite Bon Iver to “List of Demands” singer-songwriter Saul Williams, whose music has been favoured by young demographics. The chosen artists and date change were partly done in order to appeal to students in Ottawa.
“One of the things we did this year was move the dates which were traditionally in August to the weekend after Labour Day,” Monahan said.
“One of the main reasons we did that was so that we could capitalize [on the fact] that there are a lot of university students in town.”
While drawing in a younger crowd, Monahan said they also hope to keep the core audience.
“There are a lot of great Canadian indie bands that I think will appeal to a wide demographic,” Monahan said. “I think my approach is to deliver an artistically excellent event.”
He said a lot of the artists are well-known and respected while attracting a large turnout.
One of the artists that will be playing at this year’s festival is Kitchener-born Danny Michel.
He said there’s a difference when playing a regular show versus playing at a festival, as those at a show are mostly fans. Meanwhile, festivals can attract new fans.
“When you’re playing a festival there are a lot of [attendees] who don’t know who you are, and are just at the festival walking around. So it’s nice to play and win over some new fans,” Michel said.
Michel said he’s looking forward to seeing Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter L.P. along with other performances at the festival.
“People will be able to enjoy the experience and enjoy some great music,” Monahan said.
This year organizers are expecting a turnout of around 35,000 people compared to 17,000 last year. θ
