At this past summer's Winnipeg Folk Festival, I got the chance to see some incredibly amazing performers, both young folk acts just coming into their own, as well as some classic names in folk and roots music. Between Loudon Wainwright III, Arlo Guthrie, Elvis Costello, and Loreena McKennitt, there was no shortage of legends hitting the stage.
It's not every day you get to meet and speak with a bona fide legend. Sure, I've met and talked to a lot of amazingly talented comedians, actors, and comedians over the last 2 years I've been doing interviews for ShowbizMonkeys.com.
The 36th Annual Winnipeg Folk Festival came to a close on Sunday night with a main stage performance by Celtic folk icon Loreena McKennitt, while over at Big Blue @ Night, Great Lake Swimmers finished things off. Prior to that, Patrick Watson (and his band, now called The Wooden Arms) awed and amazed at Big Blue, while legendary folk singer Arlo Guthrie pleased the big crowd on the main stage.
Multi-genre band Bellowhead were the surprise of the day at the Winnipeg Folk Festival on Saturday, as the UK-based 11-piece band played their unique blend of folk, rock, ska, jazz, soul, and world music to roaring (and dancing) crowds on the main stage. Several spontaneous conga lines were even formed.
The third night of the Winnipeg Folk Festival was a busy day, and for that reason, this is going to be a shorter update tonight. It was a long, mostly cool day out at Bird's Hill Park on Friday, and sleep awaits -- but here we go!
Friday at the fest was all about the singer-songwriter -- at least for this writer.
If you've been following our Twitter updates on the left side of our home page (or directly at twitter.com/showbizmonkeys), then you know what Day 2 of the Winnipeg Folk Festival was like -- the music was great, the atmosphere was awesome, and the weather was all over the place.
The Winnipeg Folk Festival has become one of the premiere outdoor festivals in North America over its 36 year history, attracting crowds of over 45,000 paying customers to see the world's best folk, roots, bluegrass, and traditional music performers.
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