On this day in 1987, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival announced its lineup.
In 2025, what's commonly called Folk Fest is the centerpiece of Edmonton's summer festival scene. The festival packs dozens of acts, tens of thousands of attendees, and a small army of volunteers into Gallagher Park for four days every summer. It's now one of the biggest and most beloved folk festivals in North America, bringing in performers from all over the world.
But given how ingrained Folk Fest is in Edmonton's cultural life today, it might surprise some to learn how tenuous the event's future was in the 1980s, and that it barely survived a series of mishaps, financial struggles, and scandals.
Folk Fest got its start in 1980, as part of Alberta's 75th anniversary. The province had $75 million to spend on celebrations that year, and the idea for a music festival was pitched by Don Whalen and Mitch Podolak. Both were already well-established in the folk music scene in Western Canada. Whalen booked acts at The Hovel, one of Edmonton's most well-known venues for blues and folk music; Podolak, meanwhile, had helped found the Winnipeg Folk Festival. The pair applied for funding and got a grant for $89,000 for the first year.
That first year was a modest event. Most of the acts were borrowed from another anniversary celebration organized by Podolak — a traveling music show featuring Sylvia Tyson, Connie Kaldor, and Stan Rogers that was touring the province in a school bus. The equipment was also borrowed from the event. Despite working on borrowed gear and borrowed acts, the first Edmonton Folk Festival was a success.
It was also almost its last. While plans were underway to continue the festival the following year, the funding to do so was not in place, indeed right up until the second event happened. It was only with a small grant at the last minute that the festival was kept alive. Eventually, the festival was able to find some measure of stability, both financially and geographically, moving to its current home in Gallagher Park.
But the festival's troubles weren't over. In 1985, Folk Fest was almost sunk by scandal, after Whalen was charged, and eventually convicted, of gross indecency. The festival's reputation took a severe hit — sponsors pulled out, staff and volunteers quit, and creditors started calling in debts that the festival struggled to pay. Things were only kept afloat with a strong core of dedicated members. Holger Petersen, who had strong connections to the music industry and had served as the festival's chairman, was chosen to lead the festival through the tumultuous time. Three years later, the festival courted Terry Wickham as its producer, a role that he has held ever since. Under Wickham's guidance, the festival has grown into the event it is today.
Despite its early struggles, the Edmonton Folk Fest has kept attracting amazing acts and music fans for 46 years. The festival recently announced its lineup for this August, including The Roots, Mt. Joy, and Serena Ryder.
This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist Rev Recluse of Vintage Edmonton.