Playing the Calgary Folk Fest

We finished booking the 2025 Calgary Folk Music Festival and have a ton of bench strength if there are any cancellations so we can’t entertain any new artistic options. Please DO NOT contact us until September 1 for consideration for future festivals.

Our Festivals are thoughtfully curated events and many factors go into identifying and booking artists for Calgary Folk Music Festival and Block Heater. We aim to program high quality, diverse festivals. We begin with priority lists that far exceed the number of artists we can realistically program and then discover more amazing music by keeping our ears and eyes open, attending festivals and conferences, talking to colleagues, etc. We rarely repeat artists to give others an opportunity and to present a fresh program to the audience.

While we don’t accept unsolicited submissions, we are curious and interested in hearing new music. Artists/their reps can reach out to us between September 1 and December 1 ONLY to try and get on our radar for programming consideration. Put your band name in the header, include a short bio and links to key music and videos. No attachments please.

We start programming the CFMF summer festival (July 24 - 27) in the fall – working from a bloated priority list and a mind-boggling number of enticing options for very few spots – and typically finish in late January. We program February's Block Heater between August and late October.

Of the 70 artists we typically program in the summer, over half – so at least 37 – are Canadian, about 20 from the U.S. and 15 from outside North America. We program about 35 artists at Block Heater with a similar breakdown. Artists perform in concerts and our unique collaborative sessions.


Contacts

Artistic Director

Kerry Clarke

kerry@calgaryfolkfest.com

Artistic Associate

Olivia O’Brien

olivia@calgaryfolkfest.com