St. John’s, NL – May 10, 2017: Today, the Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Arts Society announced the line-up for the 41st Annual Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival presented by Statoil.
Heralded as the province’s premiere annual folk-related cultural event, the NL Folk Festival celebrates Canadian folk arts diversity in particular this year. The festival will feature a slate of stellar international, national and local folk artists, including Sarah Harmer, Matt Andersen, Sharon and Bram, and Kelly Russell and The Planks.
The festival will take place on August 4-6 in Bannerman Park, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The full schedule of performances can be found at http://nlfolk.com.
SARAH HARMER will take the TD Main Stage as the Friday night headliner. With a mesmerizing voice and heartfelt lyrics, Ontario-based singer songwriter Harmer is a Polaris-nominated, and platinum-selling Juno Award winner who has captivated audiences with her folk rock tunes for decades.
MATT ANDERSON will return to the stage as Saturday night’s featured performer. Matt is a powerhouse performer who has over 10 million views on YouTube and has won two European Blues Awards.
SHARON AND BRAM are Canadian icons and have delighted children of all ages for over 40 years with their harmonies. They will have families singing along and dancing to their enduring music on Saturday afternoon.
Finally, audiences will be kicking up their heels at Sunday night’s show with the highly acclaimed St. John’s-based folk-rock group KELLY RUSSELL AND THE PLANKS.
In addition to these featured performances, some of the finest young folk and roots musicians our province has to offer will participate in the festival and will be included on the TD Neil Murray Stage again this year.
This year also marks MusicNL’s 25th Anniversary and they have teamed up with Statoil to showcase the 2016 winners of the MusicNL Statoil Newfound Talent Contest on the TD Main Stage. This initiative will include performances by Rachel Cousins, Bailey Jordan Neil, Bridget and Dahlia, and Paige Penny & The Old Souls.
The 41st Annual Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival presented by Statoil is also pleased to present numerous sessions and workshops throughout the weekend. They will take place in the Francophone Tent, Oral Traditions Tent, Instrumental Tent and Dance Tent. A full map of the festival grounds can be found at http://nlfolk.com.
The festival also continues to be one of the most inclusive and accessible festivals in the country for seniors and persons with disabilities. A team of inclusion-specific volunteers, and representatives from InclusionNL, will host an information tent at the main entrance to the festival grounds to coordinate inquiries and/or requests. Accessibility features for this year’s festival include additional reserved blue zone parking, listening devices, an accessible ticket line, a quiet tent, loanable wheelchairs, and a festival schedule in braille.
Complete details of the 41st Annual Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival presented by Statoil, including ticket information, performer bios, schedule, venue information, and tickets, will available online in the coming days at http://nlfolk.com. Photos from the 2016 festival for promotional purposes can be attained by contacting the Media Contact below.
The Folk Arts Society of Newfoundland & Labrador wishes to thank the generous sponsors and supporters of the 41st Annual Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival, including Statoil; TD Bank Group; Government of Newfoundland and Labrador; Government of Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage; City of St. John’s; Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council; and, Steele Communications.
“The Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival presented by Statoil to proud to celebrate folk arts diversity in its 41st year. With performers from across Canada, including Sarah Harmer and Matt Andersen, as well as Indigenous performers like Rigolet’s throat singing Blake Sisters and the drum group Eastern Owl, there truly is a wide range of folk art talent being presented on the TD Main Stage this year. We also look forward to showcasing local up-and-coming youth performers on the TD Neil Murray Stage. The Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival is all about bringing people and the community together, and sharing our traditions across ages, in all of its forms. We are very excited with what we’ve put together for audiences in Bannerman Park for 2017.”
– John Drover, President of the Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Arts Society
“We are proud to partner with the Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Arts Society again this year to make the 41st Annual NL Folk Festival presented by Statoil one of the most accessible festivals in Canada for persons with disabilities. The festival is now officially designated as fully accessible, including hearing and sight accessibility. This is truly a remarkable achievement. We commend the Folk Arts Society for leading by example.”
– Kathy Hawkins, Program Manager for Inclusion NL, Empower – The Disability Resource Centre
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Andrea Cooper, President
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