If you’ve never ben to the Calgary Folk Music Festival (Folk Fest to locals) you’re in for a treat this weekend. Here are some tips to keep in mind.

• As most of you know, parking downtown requires a lot of patience and cash. Given its proximity to C-Train stations and bus stops, Folk Fest is a lot easier to get to via public transit. For those coming from the north, hop off at the 3^rd Street Station and head towards the river on 3^rd Street SW.  Anyone coming from the south should get off at the 4^th Street Station.
• The festival runs rain or shine so make sure you check the weather before heading to the island every day. At the moment, it’s sun, sun, sun on the weekend with some rain on Friday but as we all know, Calgary weather is anything but predictable. Pack some sunscreen and a poncho in case Mother Nature wants to switch up what she’s previously told meteorologists.
• Bring your own water bottle. There will not be any bottled water sold on site but there are several water stations for attendees to fill up at. They’re very diligent in watching water levels so don’t worry about them running out.
• Bring a tarp or blanket to sit on. Even if you plan on dancing the days away, it’s nice to have somewhere to relax. If you’re not a blanket or tarp person, festival chairs are available to buy on site. Regular sized lawn chairs are not permitted on the grounds.
• Attendees are allowed to bring their own food with them (which is great for those of us on a budget!) but make sure you try out some of the tasty meals for sale. It’s not Stampede style festival food – it’s a lot more substantial, varied and won’t make you feel like you put cement in your stomach.
• Take in some of the workshops. The unpredictability of throwing musicians together and letting them jam allows for once-in-a-lifetime magic.
• Plan! There’s a lot going on all weekend and while you can’t take it all in, if you take a look at a schedule, you can maximize what you are able to see.
• Yoga junkie? On the weekend, morning stretches will be held at 9:45 through 10:30
• If you’re on Twitter, follow @calgaryfolkfest for any last-minute questions.

Do you have any pearls of wisdom to add?

Every July, thousands upon thousands of people descend upon downtown Calgary to revel in a spectacle that some have likened to a religious experience.

No, we’re not referring to the Stampede.

The Calgary Folk Fest draws over 50,000 people during it’s four-day tenure on Prince’s Island Park every July and offers a more mellow (and healthier – no deep fried Oreos on the island) alternative than the Stampede.

As usual, the festival has meshed traditional folk performers with country, pop, funk, hip hop and rock artists to ensure the event offers something for everyone. This year’s headliners – City & Colour, The Herbaliser, k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang, Blue Rodeo – showcase the musical diversity Folk Fest offers its guests.

One of the most unique features that set Calgary apart from most folk festivals is its musical workshops. Instead of letting artists play solo shows, they throw a few musicians and/or bands together to jam. The result is often magical and gives listeners a once in a lifetime experience.

For the families out there attending, the festival has ensured that all attendees – no matter how young – have a blast. The Tim Horton’s Family Area allows kids to take part in all sorts of activities including arts and crafts, a climbing wall and Astro-Jump bouncers.

Along with the Tim Horton’s Family Area, there are also several music-based stations that allow kids to play different instruments, dance or sing.

Not able to make it down for the festival? You can still catch a few of the artists’ performances thanks to a partnership between Calgary Transit and the festival. Until Friday, various musicians will be providing riders with entertainment throughout the day. For a full schedule of performers and times, check either the official Folk Fest site or Calgary Transit.

The Calgary Folk Music Festival runs July 21st through the 24th.

Security at Folk Fest

Every July, there is a festival in Calgary that brings together both locals and tourists, displays Calgary’s community spirit and celebrates the city’s rich culture. While some may think this is the Calgary Stampede, it is in fact the festival that comes after our annual 10 days of partying.

The Calgary Folk Music Festival is often overshadowed by the grandiose nature of Stampede, but its ability to bring together great music and a wonderful ambiance is what makes it a great part of the Calgary summer.

The best part about Folk Fest is the people involved. First of all, it takes a small army of volunteers to run a festival of this size. Over 1,600 people volunteer every July and it’s such a popular event that the festival has to turn away individuals every year. A friend of mine has been helping out for several years and describes the volunteering at Folk Fest as a “family.” Strong ties are built between volunteers and it feels like a four-day reunion, rather than work.

Amy Millan of Stars

Secondly, the atmosphere at the festival is so inclusive. You never feel out of place or alone. You could show up by yourself and have made a whole circle of friends by the end of the first day. People are friendly, outgoing and easy to engage. This kind of setting is incredibly rare to find in a city of a million people, yet every year, Folk Fest weaves together an environment of kinship for its attendees.

This year’s lack of “big” names on the mainstage bill shows just how successful this festival is. Friday and Saturday were sellouts, with 12,000 people cramming onto Prince’s Island Park and in a recent Calgary Herald article, festival artistic director Kerry Clarke estimated that they were just 1,000 people short of selling out the entire weekend.

While the mainstage brings in the big names, it’s the festival’s unique day-time format that truly showcases the weekend vibe. Workshops are held on six stages across the island, bringing together artists to essentially hold jam sessions. The artists put together may not gel together but more often than not, they create spontaneous magic.

Felix Riebl of The Cat Empire

A prime example was when reggae artist Michael Franti whimsically decided to join in on a Friday workshop. He was set to close out the main stage that night, but he had no afternoon sets scheduled. Franti enthusiasts were slightly dampened by this, but they had a workshop comprised of DJ Dolores, El Puchero del Hortelano and Po’ Girl to fill their afternoon dancing needs.

The three artists hopped onstage and started playing, getting the crowd into their mix of  flamenco rock and urban beats. Everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves but as soon as Franti hit the stage, the crowd was transformed from happily bobbing along to the music to fervent, passionate dancing. Franti’s stage presence and his reggae rock blended perfectly with the three other artists and at the end of the set, every single soul at the Field Law stage was on their feet.

Michael Franti

This kind of magic popped up all over the island all weekend, enthralling crowds with one-of-kind performances before they settled into the mainstage performances.

As for the headlining acts, the bill catered to every musical taste imaginable. Thursday featured indie rock darlings Stars and the Avett Brothers, Friday hosted the sweet sounds of the Swell Season and then Franti’s reggae, Saturday was filled with Alberta country as the legendary Ian Tyson kicked off the mainstage performances and Corb Lund closed out the night. Sunday was more of a laid back bill with Roberta Flack finishing off a successful four days of music.

Corb Lund

Overall, Folk Fest was once again the best part of Calgary’s fun-filled July. While Stampede offers its attendees flash and grandeur, Folk Fest gives the city something much more valuable: heart.

Photo Credit: Torie Peterson

After driving over 4000 kilometers and playing hockey games in five other cities, Five Hole for Food (FHFF) rolled into Calgary on Monday afternoon looking to lean on Calgary’s generous nature to benefit the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank. The city responded by setting a new donation record on the tour.

The brainchild of Vancouver native Richard Loat, FHFF is a cross-Canada tour that is driving from Montreal to Vancouver, stopping in nine cities over 10 days to raise food for local food banks by holding street hockey games and asking players for donations.

Regina had set the bar for the most poundage donated in a single city with 545 lbs. of food on Sunday. Calgary and its competitive nature wasn’t going to be beat, however, and posted the new FHFF record of 640 lbs. of food for the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank.

“Calgary has set the bar for the rest of the trip. They’ve raised more food than any stop on the trip and now the challenge is set for Victoria and Vancouver to beat 640 lbs. of food,” Loat said after the game.

The Calgary game had a spin on it, pitting Canucks fans against Flames fans. Even though the NHL season is months away, the rivalry was alive and well as players dished out some trash talking before the ball was dropped and tried to outdo each other with their play and food donations. Unfortunately for the hometown team, the Canucks fans narrowly took the game by a score of 11-10.

While Loat is extremely pleased with the turnout this year, he sees the Calgary stop growing greatly over the coming years.

“Being the first year of the event we wanted to make as big of an impact as we could,” he said. “It was absolutely fantastic to see Flames fans and Canucks fans put aside their loyalties and come together as fans of the sport to help the community. 640 lbs is outstanding and it sets the bar for next year.”

Loat and his co-pilot Vic Lo headed up to Edmonton on Tuesday and Calgary managed to blow away its provincial rival by over 500 lbs. of food, holding onto the record with only Victoria and Vancouver remaining on the trip.

FHFF wraps up its whirlwind tour of Canada on Friday when Loat and Lo will hit Granville Street in Vancouver for the final game.

Photo credit: Five Hole for Food

While only in its fourth year, Calgary’s Sled Island has quickly become one of the city’s most significant and popular music festivals and this year promises to elevate Zak Pashak’s brainchild even further.

Pashak, festival director and founder, views Sled Island as a galvanizing event for a downtown core that often empties out as soon as the corporate world shuts down for the day.

“If people can get comfortable being downtown and they have reasons to be there and other people to interact with, it brings a lot of life to downtown.”

Held over four days, 190 artists from all over the world will take over downtown in various venues with Olympic Plaza hosting big-name acts such as Girl Talk, Built To Spill, The Melvins and Dinosaur Jr. on Friday and Saturday night.

With 25 venues, Sled Island is truly an all-encompassing festival, which Pashak believes benefits the city on a number of levels.

“I think the festival helps support local businesses by encouraging people to explore the local music scene and challenge themselves to get out and involved in the city,” Pashak told GetDown.ca. “I think it helps bring pride to some Calgarians. It also attracts people from other places to come check out what is going on here.”

Sled Island has been continually growing in size and format since its inaugural run in 2007 and Pashak is hoping it evolves into even more of an interactive event.

“I think it could start happening in some back alleys downtown if we could get the city interested in the idea.  The main site programming could get to be a bigger street party.”

For schedule and venue information, visit www.sledisland.com

Before the city is taken over with Stampede fever, a group of passionate hockey fans are hoping to draw upon Calgary’s giving nature to aid the Interfaith Food Bank.

Billed as Five Hole For Food, event coordinator and creator Richard Loat will be traveling west from Montreal, playing street hockey in nine cities over a 10-day span in aid of local banks.

Five Hole For Food will be making a stop in Calgary on Monday, July 5^th, kicking off the first of two Alberta stops on the tour.  The ball will drop in Eau Claire Market and the game will have a spin on it: it will be Flames fans vs. Canucks fans, building on the already intense rivalry between the two Western Conference NHL clubs.

“I’m particularly excited to come to Calgary because not only is it a great hockey city but our Canucks and Flames rivalry themed games is going to be one of the most exciting of the trip,” Loat said. “We couldn’t ask for a better location as we’re right on the water and some of the best hockey fans I’ve met have been Calgarians.”

While the official game starts at 4:00 PM, hockey fans in Eau Claire that evening are free to join in pick-up games and if they bring non-perishable food items or a monetary donation to the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank, they can put their name in a draw for prizes donated to the cause.

The idea of Five Hole For Food came to Loat when he was thinking of driving across the country. Instead of just taking a vacation, however, Loat decided he wanted to do something to help.

“I wanted to find a way to combine my passion for hockey with helping communities and the concept of Five Hole For Food just seemed perfect.”

After considering how he could pull this idea off in a meaningful manner, Loat came up with a model for how each game could impact communities the most: each goal scored in the game could equal a certain poundage of food donated to a local food bank. He recruited known hockey writers and bloggers from across the country to come on board as city organizers and suddenly the event became a reality.

Wanting to reach the widest audience he could, Loat has used social media to expose the event all over the country. The event’s Facebook page and Twitter account have over 500 people involved in Five Hole For Food and that number continues to grow as the start date approaches.

While organizing such a whirlwind event has taken a lot of effort, Loat said he hardly counts it as work thanks to the support he has encountered.

“The process of organizing things has been a blur and things have been coming together every day. It’s been really exciting to see support from individuals and groups at all levels – especially all the support from all levels of hockey.”

The Calgary Flames and Calgary Hitmen are just two of the many professional hockey teams that have pledged their support in some form. Loat said that while he knew the hockey industry has some of, if not the, most charitable individuals within in it, he wasn’t expecting such an outpouring of support from fans and teams alike.

“The generosity has been absolutely incredible.”

Despite Five Hole For Food’s infancy, Loat hopes to make it a yearly event.

“You can be assured that after we wrap things up this year we’re going to get started on making next year even bigger and better,” he smiled.

For more information on participating or donating to Five Hole For Food in Calgary, contact Torie Peterson at (403) 809-6926 or torie@fiveholeforfood.com.

On Thursday, June 17, hundreds of civic-minded Calgarians will descend upon Flames Central in hopes of boosting volunteerism throughout the city while engaging in the local art scene.

Timeraiser is charity event aimed at increasing community involvement through a unique format – a silent auction featuring local art that runs on bids of volunteer hours instead of money.

“I think the demographic, 20-30 something’s, genuinely want to get involved in their community.  They often just need that one

motivating factor,” said program manager Jennifer Grebeldinger.

“They also need it to be an engaging, fun experience.”

The art is purchased by selection committees across the country, paying up to $800 per piece of art. The idea behind paying for the auction art is that Timeraiser does not only provide valuable volunteer hours to a community but also supports the local art scene in every city that holds one of its events.

“With the help of our corporate partners, we are able to pay artists for their work and this support engages the vibrant, creative community.  It makes art accessible and fun for those who are just being introduced to the world of local art,” she said.

Non-profit and voluntary organizations participating in Timeraiser range from major charitable agencies like Big Brothers and Big Sisters to smaller localized charities such as Green Calgary. Selection committees don’t limit themselves to certain types of organizations, instead choosing organizations based on how diverse and engaging their volunteer opportunities are.

Timeraiser started in Toronto and after garnering considerable interest around the distinctive event, organizers decided to expand. The first city in the expansion was Calgary in 2006. Since its introduction five years ago, Calgary’s event has grown into a definite success.

“Over five years $90,000 has been paid to local artists, 12,000 volunteer hours are confirmed as to having been completed in Calgary by Timeraiser participants and over 700 young professionals have attended.”

Those numbers continue to grow every year in the city as more people find out about the event. Last year, tickets to Timeraiser were sold out three days before the event and organizers are anticipating the same demand this year.

Calgary was chosen as a viable city to host Timeraiser events due to the emergence of the city as being a youthful centre full of young professionals.

“The demographic that the Timeraiser draws, the 20-30 something crowd, has the lowest incidence of volunteerism than any other demographic group,” stated Grebeldinger. “Couple that with the fact that Calgary is such a young city, and this means that a large percentage of the citizen base is not volunteering.”

“Yet the skills and experience they can offer are tremendous for charitable groups.  They often have more time than money; so can make real contributions that are often inaccessible to agencies.”

After several successful years, the Timeraiser organizers tinkered with the format to maximize the efficiency of the event.

“We have over the years dropped the max bid from 250 hours in a year to 125 hours in a year.  This is because we have found that 125 hours over 12 months is a challenging but reasonable number of hours for busy young professionals to complete,” Grebeldinger said.

“We want people to finish their 12-month pledge and feel motivated to continue volunteering, not exhausted.  And we now always hear stories from art winners that they will stay on the board, or keep volunteering every week, etc.  Maxing the hours at 125 helps people figure out how to make volunteering part of their life.”

Grebeldinger is looking forward to what looks to be another successful event in Calgary and hopes to build upon the growing movement of civic involvement in the city.

“The night brings together a huge variety of people – the corporate world, the non-profit sector, the arts community, etc.  It ends up being a trendy but authentic night that appeals to everyone.

“We’re talking IT and HR professionals, lawyers, business managers, accountants, program managers, writers, graphic designers, etc. But beyond the specific skills that the volunteers offer, Timeraiser is often the starting point to a lifetime of civic engagement and volunteerism.  It gets the demographic engaged and invested in their community so that they want to be a part of making it a more livable, vibrant city.”

Location: Flames Central (219 8 Ave SW)

Date: Thursday, June 17

Time: Doors open at 7:00 PM

Cost: $20 per ticket at Timeraiser Calgary

Photo Credit: Jeremy Fokkens

After months of hard work and dedication, participants of the United Way’s Urban Exposure Project will not only get to showcase their art, but also their understanding of the poverty spread throughout Calgary.

On Thursday, June 3rd, the project will hold it’s annual photography gala at Wallace Galleries, culminating six months of education, exploration and discovery.

The Urban Exposure Project was created last year by the United Way’s 2335 Initiative, a group of 23-35 year olds who wanted to engage and contribute to social issues within the community. The aim of the project was create personal connections with the issue of poverty in their community while developing their photography skills.

“There are a number of ways one can be impoverished,” project coordinator and co-chair of the 2335 Initiative Rhiannon MacDonnell said. “We wanted to give them a opportunity to see that in an engaging, enlightening manner.”

Beginning in January, the project had its 16 participants partake in lectures on the root causes of poverty, service learning with various aid agencies throughout the city and technical photography classes.

During this process, participants documented their learning in photographs and have chosen the prints they feel best convey the issue of poverty at a local level.

MacDonnell said the project was an outstanding success in terms of both the technical photography skills and the participants gaining an understanding of just how far-reaching poverty is within the community.

“It is really encouraging to see people connect with an issue that touches thousands of Calgarians and gain a deeper understanding of the roots of poverty. It has been incredible.”

This year, all photography displayed will be able to be purchased with proceeds going to offsetting costs incurred by the development of the exhibit. Entry into the gallery is free but donations are accepted and appreciated.

Location: Wallace Galleries (500 5^th Ave SW)

Time: Thursday, June 3, 6:00 PM – 9:30 PM

Photo Credit: George Mach

To get ready for next week’s Children’s Fest we asked our contributors to tell us about their inner child.  Here’s what Torie said…

I believe the most endearing quality children bear is their uninhibited enthusiasm and spontaneity. To most kids, life is something that should be seized and if something pops up unexpectedly, it would almost be criminal to let that opportunity pass by. As adults, we often lose this sense of spontaneity in a world of schedules, organized activities and sports, meetings and paperwork and the constraints of life can weigh heavily on individuals. By making sure I throw caution to the wind sometimes and doing something spontaneous like going rafting on the Bow instead of finishing up invoices or heading out to the mountains to hike in lieu of cleaning the house, I’m a happier, healthier person. Any chance I can do something spontaneous, I grab the chance and I can honestly say leaving the vacuuming for another day so I can hit the hiking trails has made my life better.

What about your inner child?  Tell us in the comments section and you could win 2 tickets to the Black Violin on Saturday, May 29 at 7:30 PM.

The Calgary International Children’s Festival runs May 25 – 29, 2010 and this year there will be all the great acts for children to enjoy and few that will appeal to adults.