Artists from Scotland, Fiji, and beyond announced for Mission Folk Music Festival's 38th edition
B.C. surf-rockers Empanadas Ilegales, powerhouse Australian vocalist Lloyd Spiegel, and more will perform at the Fraser River Heritage Park from July 25 to 27
Mission Folk Music Festival. Photo by Michael Wheatley
MORE THAN 20 ACTS will perform across five stages at this year’s Mission Folk Music Festival, which has just announced the lineup for its 38th edition.
Taking place from July 25 to 27 at Fraser River Heritage Park, the festival will feature everything from Scottish fiddle tunes to gritty Americana. Artists from across Canada will be joined by international guests from the U.S., Australia, Fiji, and Scotland.
Among the B.C. artists performing at the festival are jazz-infused, Latin surf-rockers Empanadas Ilegales; fiddle, guitar, and vocal duo Strong Bow & Wry; rhythmic blues outfit Wooden Horsemen; and alt-country singer-songwriter Franklyn Woods. There’s also the Mission Folk Festival Choir, an annual tradition at the fest in which director Deb Handley leads an audience-powered choir, and Youth Open Stage and MarKaren Music, which sees the participants of the Youth Open Stage Program perform with their mentors’ band.
From Down Under, 14-time Australian Blues Music Award–winner Lloyd Spiegel will perform powerful vocals with his blues-reinventing trio. Scotland’s Ryan Young will bring his rhythmically driven fiddle skills to the fest. And in a more art-form-crossing realm, Fiji’s VOU will share the mana (power) of Fijian culture through energetic dance and storytelling.
Gear up for a sonic expansion of folk tradition as Ontario ambient-acoustic duo For Ernest takes to the stage. Five more artists and acts from the eastern province will perform: Celtic-inspired mandolin, banjo, and guitar player Graham Lindsey, bluesy folk singer-songwriter Julian Taylor, postmodern harmonic collective Miniscule, Odanak First Nation roots singer-songwriter Mimi O’Bonsawin, and ragtime blues duo The Vaudevillian.
Tio Chorinho and Flávia Nascimento. Photo by Zahra Salecki
Then there’s Tio Chorinho—the first ensemble dedicated to performing the infectious Brazilian folk genre choro in Canada—alongside Brazilian vocalist Flávia Nascimento. Alberta’s roots-fuelled John Wort Hannam Trio will play a bill of its signature imaginative songs, and Prince Edward Island’s Inn Echo will deliver global-folk fusion backed by fiddle, cello, and guitar.
Americana roots musicians Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons will travel up to the fest from Washington, along with high-energy klezmer brass band Shpilkis and bass virtuoso Lucas Warford’s Three For Silver (the unique project is coining new genres like “doomfolk” and “apocalypso”).
Along with all the music, this year’s Mission Folk Music Festival will have a food court, shaded beer garden, and artisan market onsite. Workshops and kids activities will also take place.
Weekend passes are on sale now through the festival website. Single tickets go on sale May 16, and early-bird pricing is in effect until June 30. Onsite camping is available for purchase, too. 
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