Folk on the Rocks: An Enduring Festival

The lengthy history, current adaptations, and hopeful future of a Northern music festival.

Interview by Brendan McShane

 — Posted July 29, 2020

Carly McFadden, the Artistic and Executive Director for the music festival Folk on the Rocks, spoke with Canada’s History intern Brendan McShane about the history and future of this festival, and how it changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Carly shares some of her favourite moments from this festival’s 40-year run and welcomes Canadians to experience all it has to offer.

Folk on the Rocks has been held on the shores of Long Lake, Yellowknife since 1980. The festival now includes six different stages, a food fair, and an artisan tent which showcases Northern artists.

  • Folk on the Rocks 1981
  • Folk on the Rocks 1989
  • Folk on the Rocks 2019
  • Folk on the Rocks crowd 2019
  • Folk on the Rocks mural 2019
Help keep Canada’s stories true, strong, and free

We hope you’ll help us continue to share fascinating stories about Canada’s past by making a donation to Canada’s History Society today.

 

We highlight our nation’s diverse past by telling stories that illuminate the people, places, and events that unite us as Canadians, and by making those stories accessible to everyone through our free online content.

 

We are a registered charity that depends on contributions from readers like you to share inspiring and informative stories with students and citizens of all ages — award-winning stories written by Canada’s top historians, authors, journalists, and history enthusiasts.

 

Any amount helps, or better yet, start a monthly donation today. Your support makes all the difference. Thank you! 

Click to donate

Themes associated with this article

Related to Arts, Culture & Society

Songs For Little People & My Mother Bids Me Bind My Hair

An early recording of popular children’s songs, and a Scottish folk song with an arrangement by Joseph Haydn, performed by a beloved Canadian singer.

Podcast

Prairie Boys Top the Charts

Fifty years ago The Guess Who went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with their single “American Woman.”

Article

I Like to Do It & The Devil's Dream

Archivist Joseph Trivers and Canada’s History editor-in-chief Mark Reid discuss the meaning of the word “vamp” and the role it played in a naughty jazz age song. Then, they treat us to a rollicking reel that got its name from a popular pub game of the time.

Podcast

100 Years: The Historical Legacy of The Beaver

With the October-November 2020 issue of Canada’s History, we are beginning a new chapter for Canada’s second-oldest still-published magazine. The Beaver returns in a new incarnation that honours the past while offering a platform for Indigenous voices.

Article