Calgary Folk Music Festival
My City Speaks To Me swings by this summer staple as it celebrates 40 years
Bringing together mainstage concerts and collaborative workshops, Calgary Folk Music Festival celebrates some of the globe’s most independent, original, and innovative songwriters and instrumentalists.
Lanre Ajayi swung by the four-day event this July to chat with volunteers, attendees, and performers while basking in one of Calgary’s summer staples.
“These performances are not just entertaining,” says Ajayi. “They’re fun and mind-blowing too.”
The Calgary Folk Music Festival is a non-profit charitable organization that produces music and cultural events all year including a summer festival, winter’s Block Heater, and concerts at Festival Hall in Inglewood.
“I come to Folk Festival because I love to be outside in the beautiful park, listening to really good music, eating really good food, and hanging out with friends,” says attendee Sarah Jalsoviczky. “This is my third year [here] but I’m definitely going to make it an annual tradition.”
The 40th Calgary Folk Music Festival featured over 70 local, national, and international artists uniting roots, world, and indie icons and upstarts from around the globe. More than 53,000 Calgarians and tourists attended this year’s event.
“All people, all walks of life come down to the festival and it’s like you’ve never seen before,” says attendee Kimberly Jev. “All [the] artists and musicians come from all over the world and collaborate so it’s like one big jam… I just love it because it gives me a sense of community. This is what cities are made of.”
About My City Speaks To Me
A Nigerian artist and fashion designer based in Calgary, Lanre Ajayi is driven to develop and launch an ethical fashion line in Canada.
Shared as part of The Storytelling Project, My City Speaks To Me. The Calgary Edition. is his web series that documents the people, places, and events that make Calgary a spectacular place to live.
Follow him on Twitter at @lanreajayii and on Instagram at @lanreajayi1.
