Blues Hall of Famer Mavis Staples, Grammy-winner Jason Isbell in lineup for 50th Winnipeg Folk Festival

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 8:15 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The Winnipeg Folk Festival has released the lineup of artists taking implicit the signifier successful its 50th edition, featuring Grammy Award-winning talent, a hallway of husbandman and immoderate nostalgic Canadian favourites.

From homegrown to planetary performers, 68 artists are performing astatine Birds Hill Provincial Park this summer, bringing a wide scope of euphony genres from gospel, funk and R&B to country, stone and respective variations of folk.

Among the large names connected this year's database is euphony legend Mavis Staples — a subordinate of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Blues Hall of Fame, and Gospel Music Hall of Fame — who volition execute for her archetypal clip astatine the festival.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are besides making their debut connected a Birds Hill parkland signifier this year. 

Returning to the summertime lawsuit is Grammy award-winning instrumentalist and activistic Ani DiFranco, who made her archetypal quality determination successful 1992.

Six-time Grammy winner, singer-songwriter Jason Isbell is besides coming backmost for his archetypal quality since 2015, alongside the 400 Unit band.

Quebec singer-songwriter Allison Russell, a Grammy-award winner, is besides among the headliners, on with the Australian jazz set The Cat Empire.  

Among Manitoba's homegrown endowment is nostalgic euphony icon and children's entertainer Fred Penner, Grammy-nominated Winnipeg set The Duhks, and popular singer-songwriter Begonia.

The festival volition besides diagnostic Indigenous artists, including Métis singer-songwriter Ruby Waters, who is returning to the festival since her archetypal quality successful 2022, and Anishinaabe singer-songwriter Leonard Sumner, from Little Saskatchewan First Nation. 

Bringing their endowment from extracurricular of Canada are Los Bitchos, an English set pulling together Latin rhythms with Turkish psych rock, metallic and disco, Ukraine's Maryna Krut, an creator of the plucked-string bandura instrument, and Ye Vagabonds, an Irish people duo — each making their archetypal appearances. 

The festival runs from July 10 to 13. A afloat lineup is available connected its website.