During a weekend dotted with periods of light rain, the ringing of acoustic guitars and humming of fiddles echoed through Bannerman Park in downtown St. John’s.
This was the 49th Annual Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, where folk music devotees and first-time attendees alike flocked through the park’s gates last Friday through Sunday. In the crowd, some wore tee shirts reading “Rain, Drizzle, and Folk” which seemed particularly fitting given the weather.
Early each morning, a plethora of tents and sessions offered visitors a chance to learn about folk traditions and listen to local performers.
Main stage performances in the afternoons and evenings demonstrated the wide breadth of the folk genre, from the NL Latin Band’s bouncing clave rhythms to the rapid-fire fiddling of the Polish folk group Polky.
Headliners Matt Anderson, Serena Ryder, and the Irish Descendants capped off the three days of action, respectively.
Organizers say that the festival is unlikely to reach its fiftieth year due to a loss of funding. For many attendees, this sense of finality brought back memories of days gone by.
“I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. Those were the times when either you had an old blanket, or no blanket, and the grass was fine,” said long time festival-goer Larry Price, who recently returned to Newfoundland after retiring from the military.
Others echoed this sentiment, noting that going to the festival has become an annual tradition.
“It’s such a staple, especially for my family and our summers. Every year, [we] come to the folk festival and have a great time, rain or shine,” said attendee Izzy Churchill. “I’ve been here since I was old enough to walk.”
Churchill said that her late grandfather, a guitar player himself, sparked this love of music. Since she has started attending the festival, the event has changed some, but much has remained the same.
“I’ve slowly seen less people coming, but I feel like the core of the folk festival is still very much present. I see people who have been coming here for years, my family, so many other families. The love for it is still very much here.”
Amidst the uncertainty surrounding the festival’s future, there is hope that its spirit will carry on. Rob Smith, an attendee discovering the festival for the first time, felt that it still had much to offer.
“I hope it doesn’t ever quit, it’s great. You can’t get rid of good music like this, it’s local, it’s just a beautiful feeling here.”
