The Calgary Folk Music Festival kicked off Day two on some of the smaller stages with more intimate performances, as well as workshops that brought artists from many different backgrounds together to play together and collaborate with musicians from many different genres.
At the Community Natural Foods Stage six, I got to take in Innu recording artist SHAUIT, who is a francophone Indigenous singer-songwriter who blends traditional First Nations music, primarily in the Innu-aimun language, with pop-rock and reggae music.
Originally from Maliotenam, Quebec, he is the son of an Acadian father and an Innu mother. Raised francophone, he had virtually no knowledge of the Innu language until learning it as a teenager in a bid to reconnect with his Indigenous heritage.
His performance was a real treat, and he even taught the crowd some traditional Innu Dance Moves, and they all got up and danced in the traditional Innu way.
I also caught a glimpse of Mayan artist Sara Curruchich, who is a member of the Kaqchikel community, an Indigenous Mayan population from the area now known as southern Mexico and the highlands of Guatemala.
That identity is a deep part of who Curruchich is, as a person and an artist. The Kaqchikel have a strong tradition of expressing themselves through art and also for fighting oppression, something that’s at the centre of Curruchich’s work. She was taking part in a workshop with a few other groups, and I did not get the opportunity to hear her sing, I did get a chance to see her play various percussive instruments as well as the timbale.
The Calgary Folk Music Festival truly has something for everyone, and the crowd ranged in age from toddlers to seniors and everyone enjoying music from all four corners of the planet!
The festival goes until Sunday, and you can find the full lineup at https://calgaryfolkfest.com/.
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