Happy Holidays from the Canmore Folk Festival Team

As we approach the holiday season, it’s an excellent time for reflection on the year that passed. I think we stand with everyone when we say “goodbye and good riddance to 2020”.   

On April 21st, we announced the cancellation of the 2020 festival. Shattered and disappointed, we immediately started our pivot to online. Trying to connect our community in whatever way was safe and possible. The separation, divide and isolation of the pandemic reinforced the importance of community. We have always believed a healthy community needs music and the arts. That is more pronounced in the face of struggle and uncertainty, and 2020 shined a light on this.    

We wish that we could say with certainty that things will be normal again for the 2021 festival and that we will have this whole thing behind us. But, as you already know, we cannot. Without a crystal ball, it’s hard to say what next summer will look like for events. That is why we’ve had to hold off on our Holiday Sale. We are still in the early stages of figuring out what we can do to connect our community over the August long weekend. We promise to keep you updated every step of the way.   

This holiday if you have the means, we urge you to support your arts community. Whether that be a donation to your favourite summer festival or the purchase of an artist’s swag. What we invest our energy and capital in today will be what comes out of the pandemic strong. Amazon will be just fine, we promise, but your favourite little coffee shop, local artist or arts organization might not have that same fortune.   

 This year has been incredibly challenging. We at the Canmore Folk Festival want to wish you and your families all the best this holiday, even if it looks a bit different than typical years. Remember we’re all in this together, so be kind and as always listen to good music.  

With Love,   

The Canmore Folk Festival Team