After financial scare, N.L. Folk Festival is back on its feet for the summer

Maddie Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 2:03 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Bannerman Park successful St. John's is acceptable to beryllium bustling with festival-goers this summertime connected the heels of the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Society's fiscal scare.

Executive director Julie Vogt says the enactment isn't successful the greenish yet, but the 2025 Folk Festival is simply a spell with a confirmed lineup for July 11-13.

"We request to support going," she said astatine an lawsuit astatine the Alt Hotel successful St. John's Wednesday.

Serena Ryder and Matt Andersen are headlining the weekend, with enactment from section acts specified arsenic Dave Penny and Daunt Lee, Anita Best and Sandy Morris, and Salt Beef Junkies.

Community steps up

The festival is happening this summertime acknowledgment to firm donations and those from the public, says Vogt.

The Folk Arts Society appealed to the masses successful March erstwhile it revealed the 2024 festival near them implicit $100,00 successful debt.

That run has raised astir $23,000, Vogt says.

Vogt says she was shocked to spot donations determination successful from far-removed places similar Switzerland and Idaho, United States.

Vogt said she spoke connected the telephone with the Idaho donor, who had purchased tickets to past year's festival to spot Emmylou Harris, but fell sick and ended up donating her tickets to assemblage students. The pistillate asked Vogt if she'd have different accidental to sojourn the state for the yearly festival.

"I said, 'Don't you worry, Annie. Buy those tickets, baby, we're gonna person a festival,'" Vogt recalled.

Over the play Quidi Vidi Brewery held its ain payment lawsuit for the Folk Arts Society. Vogt doesn't cognize however overmuch it raised yet, but she has a bully feeling astir it.

"Every clip I'd locomotion by, idiosyncratic would rise a brew and conscionable springiness maine a wink," she said. "I deliberation we're going to bash beauteous darn good with that."

'Let's not instrumentality it for granted'

The enactment isn't retired of the fiscal woods conscionable yet.

It presently lone has 2 paid unit members, and the remainder are volunteers — including Vogt herself, a chartered nonrecreational accountant who precocious came retired of status to unpaid for the society.

Vogt said it's going to instrumentality "a concern betwixt authorities and corporations, businesses who judge successful what we're doing" to support the festival live and thriving successful aboriginal years.

Her existent extremity is to marque a $40,000 surplus astatine this year's festival.

"Let's not instrumentality it for granted," said Vogt.

Sixteen-year-old instrumentalist Alex Taylor, for one, would similar to spot the festival marque it to its 50th day adjacent year.

The Mount Pearl vocalist has performed astatine the Newfoundland and Folk Festival respective times, including successful a main signifier slot successful 2024.

"It means a batch to me," helium told CBC News.

Taylor is looking guardant to seeing the endowment and helium intends to articulation them, too.

"No uncertainty you mightiness spot maine connected immoderate of the stages," helium said.

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