Biosphere & Folk Fest Come Together To Celebrate Past While Building Future

We are pleased to announce that the Canmore Folk Music Festival will be partnering with the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley as our Environmental Coordinator for the 2022 festival.

The Canmore Folk Fest is the Bow Valley’s first festival to have embraced the Toward Zero Waste initiative. From eliminating styrofoam plates and cups from the site and significantly reducing the use of both hard and soft plastics, to eliminating the use of plastic water bottles and actively promoting reusable options, becoming a greener festival and reducing impact are at the forefront of all that we do. 

The Green Team

Each year, our on-site Green Team focuses on reducing human environmental impact and supports festival goers, musicians, and volunteers alike in doing the same. This year, the Biosphere will be taking on the role of Environmental Coordinator, which includes managing the Volunteer Green Team, organizing and coordinating waste removal, and educating coordinators regarding recycling and waste procedures at the festival. 

We could not be more excited about this partnership and we couldn’t think of a better-suited organization for the job! 

“The Folk Fest has been a leader with their waste management program for a number of years, and we’re excited to get involved and help that grow even stronger,” said Andrew Cotterell of the Biosphere Institute. 

“We hope that with our expertise in education and community engagement we can help festival-goers understand the benefits of the program and perhaps be more inspired to take on other actions that contribute to environmental solutions. We hope we can make it easy for everyone to do the right thing and for things like composting and reusable containers to become the norm throughout the Bow Valley.” 

More About the Biosphere

For 25 years, The Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley has delivered on its mission of empowering community leadership to address environmental challenges. This passionate team’s community programs include education and engagement around climate action, and helping reduce human-animal conflict through its Wildsmart program. To join this important work you can follow along on social media and amplify their messages, sign up for their “Shift Newsletter” to keep a finger on the pulse of the many opportunities to get involved in their programs, or sign up for their Bear Report mailing list; and you can volunteer, or make a donation, to support their work. 

This partnership celebrates Canmore’s rich past while working to build a better future for residents, visitors, and generations to come. Thank you, Biosphere Institute, we’re honoured to partner with you in this important work!