The Talking Stick Festival and the Vancouver Folk Music Festival are proud to present the ancient traditional songs and the eerie new composition of Inuit style throat singers PIQSIQ from the Historic Theatre at the Cultch. Suzette Amaya hosts the evening, and Syilx singer/songwriter Francis Baptiste opens the show with songs that incorporate his native language, N̓syilxčn̓.

With a style perpetually galvanized by darkness and haunting northern beauty, sisters, Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk MacKay, come together to create Inuit style throat singing duo, PIQSIQ. Performing ancient traditional songs and eerie new compositions, they leave their listeners enthralled with the infinity of possible answers to the question "what is the meaning of life."

Available for free on April 30, 2021 at 7 PM - the stream will be available here or via https://talkingstickfest.ca

Dear Festival Friends,

Due to the ongoing pandemic, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Vancouver Folk Music Festival, scheduled for July 16-18, 2021.

At this time, the traditional festival experience that we all know and love, does not seem feasible given the current conditions, immunization timelines, and the overall uncertainty of what may be possible as vaccines continue to rollout to the public at large. The safety of our community, staff, contractors, artists, volunteers, vendors, sponsors, suppliers, patrons and festival supporters continues to be of utmost importance.

Staff and Board continue to follow the communications of Provincial Public Health Authorities and given Covid-19 uncertainties regarding public gatherings, we await clarity on what we can safely present in line with the evolving restrictions. We continue to focus our efforts on planning an "At Home" experience (virtually and hopefully with some small audiences). We look forward to sharing more details with all of you in the upcoming months.

If you are a ticket-buyer, we have made the decision to offer refunds for your 2020 tickets. If you are able, we ask that you consider donating the cost of your ticket, in exchange for a charitable tax receipt. We will be contacting ticket buyers directly via email with full details this week. Please do not call the office, as we are mainly working remotely at this time.

We ask for your patience as it may take some time to respond to any questions or requests received. Please see below for a staff contact list for non-ticket related inquiries.

Thank you to all of our patrons, artists, volunteers, donors, sponsors, vendors, suppliers, and the community at large. We continue to get through these challenging times, in great part thanks to YOU and your continuing care and support.

Stay safe, healthy and continue to be kind to one another.

– The Board and Staff of Vancouver Folk Music Festival

As we learn how to navigate these uncharted challenges, we appreciate your patience and understanding.  Please reach out to us with questions or concerns:

For artists, grants, governance, media, marketing: debbi@thefestival.bc.ca

For box office, tickets, vendors, donations, sponsorships: jennifer@thefestival.bc.ca

 

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the Paperboys!
 
It’s been a while since the Paperboys played VFMF, but band members Kalissa and Tom Landa played in their group Locarno at the 2019 Festival. While we can’t enjoy them live at the WISE Hall this St Patrick’s Day,  we can all enjoy some wonderful and spirited Celtic music at home with a live concert stream from the Paperboys.  Crack open that bottle of Writer’s Tears Whiskey and enjoy some living room listening and dancing!

Full Event Details Here

For now, we are separated. But when we get through this, we’ll be able to embrace, dance, and sing shoulder to shoulder. If you donate today, you will help ensure we can reunite and celebrate the joy of being together once again.

Now more than ever, we need the power of community to “keep the music playing” post-COVID. Thank you so much for your continued love and support. We send it right back – and hope each and every one of you are staying healthy and safe!

“The list of artists whose careers broke out after appearing on one of the workshop stages at Jericho Beach is too long to print. This year will just add more names to the list.” – Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun