With less than two months to go, the Jasper Folk Music Festival is taking serious shape.
Tickets for the Sept. 13鈥�15 event at Centennial Park are now available through www.ticketweb.ca, and so far four artists鈥擣ive Alarm Funk, Oscar Lopez, Alex Cuba and Michael Rault鈥攁re listed as performers.
Five Alarm Funk is a 10-piece 鈥渉orn powered, percussion fueled sonic and visual assault鈥� from Vancouver, B.C.
Oscar Lopez is a sensual flamenco guitar player who moved to Calgary from Chile in 1979. The folk festival will be his second show in the region this summer, as he just performed at Wild Mountain Music Festival in Hinton last weekend.
Alex Cuba is a Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter who performs in Spanish and English. Cuba gave a surprise performance at SnowDome last winter, as well as a performance at the Jasper Legion.
And finally, Michael Rault is an Edmonton-native, now living in Toronto, who plays a mix of roots, rock 鈥榥鈥� roll and blues.
Joining these esteemed artists on the performance schedule are the May 24th Battle Royale winners, Emma Acorn and Some Irish Pirates.
With festival plans progressing, the organizing committee is calling for volunteers, artisans and food vendors, said Cristin Murphy, director and funding/sponsorship coordinator for the organizing committee.
Volunteer applications aren鈥檛 online, but hard copies are available at the Farmers Market, which happens every Wednesday from noon until 3 p.m. in the Legion parking lot.
Artisans interested in selling their wares at the festival can contact Marianne Garrah at [email protected] for information and an application form. Food vendor inquiries can be directed to Lisa Riddell at [email protected].
Fundraising-wise, the organizing committee wrapped up its raffle for two VIA Rail return passes to Vancouver and two tickets to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival on June 30. 鈥淓verything that came in for that was all profit for us,鈥� said Murphy.
The festival received $5,000 from the municipality鈥檚 economic development fund for portable toilets and fencing. The event鈥檚 title sponsor will be the Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre.
The committee has worked hard to establish a site map, which includes spaces for the stage, vendors and a children鈥檚 area.
Other plans and artist confirmations will be ironed out in the weeks to come and 鈥渨e鈥檒l have all the information updated on our Facebook page for sure,鈥� said Murphy.
The folk festival鈥檚 Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/JasperFolkMusicFestival.
Sarah Makowsky
[email protected]
