Calgary Folk Music Festival ( Calgary, Alberta )

The Calgary Folk Music Festival (also known as "Calgary Folk Fest") is held in late July each year at Prince's Island Park, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the festival and will run July 23-26. While known for attracting both established and up-and-coming folk music, the festival features a wide variety of artists including hip-hop, alternative, blues, and world acts. Over 60 artists play across seven stages (one main stage and six side stages). The festival also features an extensive arts market, beer gardens, family area, as well as a wide array of local food and beverage vendors. The Calgary Folk Music Festivals attracted nearly 50,000 people in 2009. Its success and acclaim is largely attributed to the kindness, dedication, and hard work of its 1300+ volunteers.

Calgary International Reggae Festival ( Calgary, Alberta )

The Calgary International Reggae Festival is an annual event in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that is put on by the Calgary Reggae Festival Society.

Canadian Music Week ( Toronto, Ontario )

Canadian Music Week (or CMW) is an industry conference and music festival held over four days in various venues throughout Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Edgefest ( Toronto and Barrie, Ontario )

Edgefest, a yearly outdoor rock concert festival that primarily promotes Canadian rock music, began in 1987 as a thank-you gesture to the listeners of Toronto radio station 102.1 the Edge and as a birthday party to commemorate both the station's tenth birthday, and the coinciding Canada Day. Since then, it has spanned 20 years, over 300 bands, over 500,000 attendees, and 4 locations (Molson Park in Barrie, Ontario, the Ontario Place Forum, the Molson Amphitheatre, and most recently Downsview Park). It is now the longest running rock show in Canada.

Folk on the Rocks ( Yellowknife, Northwest Territories )

Folk on the Rocks is an outdoor music festival held on the third weekend in July every year on the shores of Long Lake in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada every summer. The non-profit festival was founded in 1980.

The weekend event (plus the Friday opening gala "Warm the Rocks") features a balance of musicians from Northern Canada and across the globe.

Celtic Roots Festival ( Town of Goderich )

The Celtic Roots Festival is a Celtic festival held annually in the town of Goderich. The festival celebrates traditional Celtic music and craft by showcasing a wide variety of musicians and artisans. Musical acts have come from as far afield as Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but have also included popular North American folk artists such as Maura O'Connell, The Wailin' Jennys and Garnet Rogers. The festival was first held in 1992.

Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival ( Fredericton, New Brunswick )

Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival takes place in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Traditionally held in the third week of September it has hosted bands such as Gov't Mule, Delbert McClinton, and Oscar Peterson.

The festival is held in the downtown core of the city with five major venues ranging in capacity. There are also 15 other stages used during the festival making it the largest jazz and blues festival in Atlantic Canada.

Havelock Country Jamboree ( Havelock, Ontario )

The Havelock Country Jamboree is a four-day country music camping festival held annually in the small village of Havelock, Ontario (two hours east of Toronto). The festival runs Thursday through Sunday on the third weekend in August.

Hillside Festival ( Guelph, Ontario )

The Hillside Festival is an annual three-day, five-stage summer festival occurring in Guelph, Ontario hosting musicians, spoken word artists, workshops and more. The Hillside Festival occurs in late July on Guelph Lake Island.

Home County Folk Festival ( London, Ontario )

Home County Folk Festival is a folk music festival in London, Ontario. It is a free admission festival held annually in Victoria Park in downtown London.

Mariposa Folk Festival ( Various places in Ontario )

The Mariposa Folk Festival was founded in Orillia, Ontario, and after being held in various places in Ontario for a few decades, has returned there. The festival's goal is to study, promote and celebrate folk music, especially that performed by Canadians.

After a very successful first year, the Festival was plagued with problems: persistent rowdiness, lack of a permanent venue, changes in focus, schisms and artistic differences. Nevertheless, despite these handicaps, Mariposa provided an opportunity for established and especially new groups and soloists of folk, country, Aboriginal, blues, zydeco or pop bent to perform. The related Mariposa in the Schools program nurtured child entertainers like Sharon, Lois and Bram, Raffi and Eric Nagler.

Merritt Mountain Music Festival ( Merritt, British Columbia )

Merritt Mountain Music Festival is an outdoor music festival in Merritt, British Columbia, Canada. In 2005 the festival hosted a record breaking attendance of approximately 148,000 people throughout the 6 day event. The festival will be celebrating its 16th year anniversary this July 10-13.

The current festival ownership has stated that they may have to close the show down and not return next year due to disappointing attendance unless a financial partner can be found.

Montreal International Jazz Festival ( Montreal, Quebec )

The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM), (Eng: Montreal International Jazz Festival) also called the Jazz Fest, is the largest jazz festival in the world.

It is held annually in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, during the summer season (usually at the end of June and the beginning of July) and gathers artists from around the world. It is typically attended by over 2 million people who are attracted by the electric atmosphere, diversity of shows and by the city itself. The festival reported on its website (below) in April 2008 that the attendance of the 2007 festival reached 2.1 million. Many parts of the city's downtown core are closed to traffic for ten days as outdoor shows are free to the public and on many stages at the same time, from noon till midnight. Attendance to some shows is over 100,000 and sometimes over 200,000.

Montreal Reggae Festival ( Montreal, Quebec )

Started in 2004, The Montreal Reggae Festival is held annually at the Old Port of Montreal, during the 2nd weekend of July. The Montreal Reggae Festival attracts many larger reggae acts and is slowly growing to be one of the most popular reggae events in Eastern North America.

MUTEK ( Montreal, Quebec )

Founded in 2000, MUTEK is an international festival organization dedicated to the promotion of electronic music and the digital arts. Its central platform is an annual five-day event in Montreal that takes place in late May and early June. Each year, more than 100 artists, panelists, and industry professionals participate in what has become a leading event of its kind in North America.

North by Northeast ( Toronto, Ontario )

North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual five-day live music and film festival and music conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, held each June.

Nakusp Music Fest ( Nakusp, British Columbia )

The Nakusp Music Fest is an annual music festival held in Nakusp, British Columbia, which is situated in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. Held every summer usually in July, it is touted as the British Columbia interior's largest classic rock festival, although classic rock is not the only genre of music played at the event.

Ottawa Bluesfest ( Ottawa, Ontario )

The Ottawa Bluesfest is an annual outdoor music festival that takes place each July in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. While ostensibly focused on blues, the festival has increasingly showcased mainstream pop and rock acts in recent years.

Ottawa Folk Festival ( Ottawa, Ontario )

The Ottawa Folk Festival is a major Canadian folk music festival. The organization presents a three-day weekend festival in August (generally two weeks before the Labour Day long weekend), as well as an evening benefit concert series throughout the year.

Ottawa International Jazz Festival ( Ottawa, Ontario )

The Ottawa International Jazz Festival is a multi-week festival of jazz music, featuring performers from all around the world. It is held in the summer in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and takes place at various locations throughout the city. The main events are held place at the Confederation Park in the downtown area. The festival is quickly growing into one of the biggest in Canada behind the Toronto Jazz Festival and the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Past renown performing artists include Dave Brubeck, Return to Forever, Oliver Jones.

Ottawa Reggae Festival ( Ottawa, Ontario )

The Ottawa Reggae Festival is a non-profit, volunteer driven music festival which promotes cultural arts and diversity in Canada’s national capital region. Our aim is to maintain 75 % Canadian content while showcasing local and internationally renowned artists in a live performance setting.

Pemberton Festival ( Pemberton, British Columbia )

The Pemberton Festival was a three-day summer music festival inaugurated in 2008. It was held in Pemberton, British Columbia, a village just north of popular ski resort Whistler. Produced by Live Nation Canada, the festival featured primarily rock and indie rock musicians, with a small proportion of hip hop. Musicians played on one of two stages, picturesquely situated at the foot of Mount Currie and the surrounding mountain range. The site, a 400-acre (1.6 km2) hayfield, was discovered by concert-promoter, Shane Bourbonnais, of Live Nation, just down the street from his vacation home. He emphasized event sustainability and environmentalism as priorities in running the festival.

Regina Folk Festival ( Regina, Saskatchewan )

The Regina Folk Festival (RFF) is an annual folk music festival held in Victoria Park in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Occurring the second weekend in August, the festival is a three-day annual event that attracts around 20,000 people and over 500 volunteers. It is Western Canada's longest-running music festival. Since 1999, its artistic director has been Sandra Butel.

Rogers Bayfest ( Sarnia, Ontario )

Rogers Bayfest is an annual music festival in Centennial Park - downtown Sarnia, Ontario, Canada - that takes place in July each year.

Since 1999, Rogers Bayfest has grown from attracting a few thousand visitors to approximately 70,000.

The festival involves and benefits a number of charities and capitalizes on the hometown feeling and the festival environment. However, several local residents living in and around the park have made complaints with regard to noise, garbage, drunkenness and public urination.

SCENE Music Festival ( St. Catharines, Ontario )

The SCENE Music Festival is a one-day music festival held in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada since 1996. The event is held annually in late June/early July. The acronym "SCENE" stands for St. Catharines Event for New Music Entertainment.

SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Fest ( Saskatchewan )

SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Fest is an annual outdoor music, food and fun event in the province of Saskatchewan hosted by Saskatchewan Jazz Festival, Inc. (SJF). Normally staged during June, it is host to a range of Canadian and International jazz musicians who travel from across the world to take part. You are likely to encounter everything from Big Band, Rhythm and Blues, Dixieland, Reggae, blues, R&B, gospel music, folk music, funk, soul, classic quartet jazz, hip hop, groove, rock, rap music, country music, bluegrass and everything in between. And of course there is lots of jazz, both contemporary and traditional. In addition to the Saskatoon Delta Bessborough Hotel garden events, the Festival also holds various night concerts at other venues. The festival is a major tourism destination.

Sunfest ( London, Ontario )

Sunfest is an annual Canadian world music music festival that happens in London, Ontario, Canada, primarily in Victoria Park. It is the second-largest music festival in Canada after Caribana in Toronto. Alfredo Caxaj, who emigrated from Guatemala after his brothers were murdered, founded Sunfest in 1994.

Vancouver Folk Music Festival ( Vancouver, British Columbia )

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival takes place every third weekend of July. Founded in 1978, this annual festival uses eight outdoor stages, located at Jericho Beach Park on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia.

In the past it has attracted artists from all over the world and from all walks of life, including Ani Difranco, Utah Phillips, Tuvan Throat singers, Sarah Harmer, Veda Hille, Feist, K'naan, and Ferron, among many others. In recent years, the festival has added more hip-hop and spoken word to the standard collection of singer-songwriters and ethnic musicians.

Victoria Ska Fest ( Victoria, British Columbia )

The Victoria Ska Fest is a music festival that takes place every summer by the Victoria BC Ska Society, in Victoria British Columbia, Canada. The longest running ska fest in North America had over 200 submissions for 2009, from bands and artists from around the world.

Virgin Festival ( Toronto & Vancouver )

The Virgin Festival (known from 2008 as the Virgin Mobile Festival in the United States) is a rock festival held in the United States and Canada, a spin-off from the V Festival held in the UK. In North America the Virgin name, and recently the Virgin Mobile brand, is used in full to increase brand association, compared with the UK and Australian festivals, where association is simply implied through the use of the V.

Warped Tour ( Various cities )

The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is often referred to as the Vans Warped Tour. The tour started out as a showcase for punk rock music, but its more recent line-ups have featured a diversity of genres.

Winnipeg Folk Festival ( Winnipeg, Manitoba )

The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It features a variety of folk artists from all around the world, as well as a number of local folk performers.