{"id":803794,"date":"2026-07-15T16:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/803794\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:16:11","slug":"editors-picks-six-acts-you-need-to-see-at-the-2026-vancouver-folk-music-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/803794\/","title":{"rendered":"Editors’ picks: Six acts you need to see at the 2026 Vancouver Folk Music Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Can you think of a summer day better than one filled with good weather, great music, and gorgeous surroundings?\u00a0While the Vancouver Folk Music Festival<\/a> can’t control the first, the second and third are always on lock at the yearly Jericho Beach-based bash.<\/p>\n

With everything from indie sad boys (Hazlett) and iconic protest singers (Billy Bragg), to award-winning Indigenous soul (Aysanabee) and local stars (Haley Blais<\/a>, Surf Hat<\/a>, Ruby Singh and the Future Ancestors<\/a>), the 49th annual festival promises a little something for everyone.Take some time to soak up the glorious vibes, and if you want to expand your eardrums, our editors have picked six acts that might just become your new faves.<\/p>\n

Different countries have their own deeply rooted musical traditions, but sometimes crossing borders can create something truly unique. That’s the case with Mitsune, a Berlin-based band that started as a trio of shamisen players before expanding to include double-bass, percussion, and vocals. The result is a psychedelic-infused trip, blending the sounds of Japan’s tsugaru-jamisen with contemporary jazz, punk, and funk influences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even more delightful is the band’s live show, where the members don colourful costumes and embody a fizzing, frenetic energy. Songs range from the more ritualistic and folkloric (“Maru”) to the bluesy (“Fusako no Hula”, where the shamisen sounds almost like a banjo or ukulele) to the downright mind-melting (“Aizu Bandaisan”). Mix in colourful visuals and maximalist flair onstage, and you’ve got a recipe for an unlikely party under the blazing Vancouver sun. (VW) Saturday South Stage, 11 a.m. \/ Sunday West Stage, 11:15 a.m.<\/p>\n

@martinsanchezeme<\/a>\/Instagram<\/a> <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for high energy, fun vibes, you needn\u2019t look past local ensemble Empanadas Ilegales<\/a>. The psychedelic cumbia and salsa group knows how to party with a mostly instrumental act that begs the audience to get off its feet.\u00a0The winding, whimsical \u201cMano Peluda\u201d and the constant, searching \u201cChicharra\u201d are part of a catalogue that can be equally enjoyed while fading into a substance-aided descent into the grass and dancing your feet off.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s forthcoming album, LABORATORIO TROPICAL, comes out late next month and promises to keep the party going. Get the dance party started early. Or, you know, fade into the music. The Vancouver Folk Music Festival contains multitudes. (NC) Saturday West Stage, 4:40 p.m. \/ Sunday West Stage, 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Back in the day, you might have heard of the Neilsons: a parents-and-three-kids music group that released a couple of country radio hits in 1996 and then completely disappeared. The daughter, Tami Neilson, wasn’t done with the music biz though. She moved from Toronto to New Zealand in 2007, and has since become a noted rockabilly icon in the Antipodes. And it’s not just us who think so: she’s a multi-time winner of Best Country Act at the Aotearoa Music Awards, making her arguably the nearest thing Auckland has to a bona-fide Nashville-style star.<\/p>\n

But Neilson doesn’t need America to be great. While her music borrows from imagery and sound typical of the Southwest\u2014cowboy boots, pedal steels, sharpshooters\u2014her sound is both fresh and familiar. Hot on the heels of her 10th album, last year’s Neon Cowgirl, Neilson is riding into the Vancouver Folk Festival with country-fused swagger and rootsy rock power. Here’s hoping she can rope in a couple of friends to play album highlight “Borrow My Boots”: a real barn-burner dedicated to feminine friendships and the power of a good shit-kicker. (VW) Saturday Main Stage, 6 p.m. \/ Sunday West Stage, 12:50 p.m.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know for sure what song Valerie June is going to start her Folk Festival set with, but, if the accomplished American soul\/folk\/rock\/country artist wants to take very unsolicited advice from the Straight, \u201cJoy Joy!\u201d, the opening song from her latest album, Owls, Omens, and Oracles, seems like a no-brainer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The song is a celebratory, uplifting tune that would kick off her 7:35 p.m. Sunday set nicely. From there, June has a deep catalogue of songs that are going to play perfectly at the beach, including others off Owls like the contemplative and beautifully slow-building \u201cEndless Tree\u201d and the electric, singalong-y \u201cInside Me\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Really, Jericho is a perfect background for what June brings. Let her soulful, fun, and danceable tunes guide your night. I\u2019d also highly recommend catching her at the Sunday Rise Up and Sing workshop, which also includes Billy Bragg and Ken Pomeroy, among others. (NC) Sunday South Stage, 10:30 a.m. \/ Sunday Main Stage, 7:35 p.m.<\/p>\n

While still in her early 20s, there\u2019s something about Ken Pomeroy that feels like she\u2019s from another time. Start with a first name that seems cut from the same cloth as Johnny Cash\u2019s immortal \u201cA Boy Named Sue.\u201d Add to that that Pomeroy has shared the stage with legitimate country icons like the legendary Wanda Jackson. And then consider, after trafficking in soft-focus folk for her awesomely titled 2021 debut Christmas Lights In April, Pomeroy leans a little closer to ghost-on-the-highway, sepia-toned Americana on her sophomore full-length Cruel Joke.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Born to a mother who named her \u13a4\u13cd\u13d7 \u13c0\u13ef \u13d3\u13b6\u13c2\u13a8 \u13a4\u13cd\u13d7\u13a6\u2014the translation being \u201cLittle wolf with yellow hair\u201d\u2014 the Cherokee singer\/songwriter draws on her family history as an artist. Of the Cruel Joke campfire comedown \u201cCoyote\u201d, she notes, \u201cIn Native stories, a coyote can be a troubling omen. The vignettes serve as a moving example of embracing tradition, extending it, and making it personal. Growing up Native, there are a lot of signs and works that include animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s a little on the cryptic side, consider this from Cruel Joke\u2019s stripped-down and confessional \u201cStrangers\u201d: \u201cThe wind keeps on hitting me like my mother used to\/Unlike her, I feel like it doesn\u2019t want to.\u201d On the subject of old school, Jesus Christ, if you know, you know. (MU) Sunday South Stage, 10:30 a.m.\/ Sunday East Stage, 1:55 p.m.<\/p>\n

One of the many amazing things about the Vancouver Folk Music Festival is the way that you get to play cultural tourist. Music is transportive, as anyone who’s ever spent an evening with Bob Marley, Franco, \u00c9dith Piaf, or John Prine knows. And yes, considering all those legends are currently hanging out at the world\u2019s coolest bar in heaven, we\u2019re talking about living the past through your favourite mediums, whether that be CD, vinyl, cassette, or 8-track.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the live front, Congotronics remains a bucket-list favourite. But until we scrape together the plane fare, BIM fills the void on the hypnotically exotic front. The band also known as Benin International Musical leans into the idea that musical boundaries are to be straddled, with world music colliding with throwback Afrobeat, OG hip-hop, desert blues, and polyrhythmic jazz.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just a start\u2014did we mention voodoo being an essential part of the mix? That\u2019s admittedly scary if your only exposure consists of a lone trip to New Orleans and repeat summer viewing of Wes Craven\u2019s truly amazing The Serpent and the Rainbow.<\/p>\n

Keeping in mind that you can substitute \u201cvoodoo\u201d for voudon, BIM\u2019s drummer and spokesman Jimmy Belah says this: \u201cVodoun is not what people see in movies, a bad thing. Vodoun is about the earth, it\u2019s about the water, it\u2019s about human beings, it\u2019s about nature. It\u2019s a culture, it\u2019s a lifestyle, and it\u2019s a philosophy. It teaches us how to live together.\u201d If that sounds a little bit like your best experience as a tourist, that\u2019s not by accident. (MU) Sunday West Stage, 4:25 p.m.\/\u00a0Sunday Main Stage, 9:30 p.m.<\/p>\n