Changes are coming to the annual Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival.
But they’re not sitting well with some longtime festival-goers.
People buying early-bird passes online quickly discovered an expansion of the licensed area of the park, particularly the very front of the main stage.
In the past, that’s been open to all ages, particularly younger folk dancing and mingling with family on the grass.
The change, just one of many this year, has caused a storm of controversy and push back on social media.
But folk arts society executive director Julie Vogt says the changes are necessary for financial and regulatory reasons.
Folk Arts Society executive director Julie Vogt.
“The hard truth of it is, back in the olden days of this festival it was us and regatta,” says Vogt. “Then came George Street Festival, then came Iceberg Alley and Churchill Park, and now there’s possibly another one.
“So we have competition like we’ve never had before, and at the end of the day we can’t financially sustain the kind of folk festival that we did last year.”
As a result, a new stage will be erected in the ball field for family-friendly entertainment throughout the daytime hours.
Vogt says surveys and the numbers speak for themselves.
“During the evenings, there were only 38 children at any one time in the park. They’re under 12 and this thing goes until the wee hours,” she said.
“So we had to make that decision for the betterment of the festival so that we could keep going and make sure that we had enough people buying tickets so that we can have someone like Emmylou Harris, and who’s going to be on before her, and the rest of the lineup.”
Those changes are just a few coming to the festival this year, which is set for July 12-14th.
Early-bird weekend passes have already sold out, but other ticket options will be available as of March 1.
Vogt says many of the new elements this year were also necessary to adhere to NLC regulations.
