Calgary Folk Festival releases 2022 lineup

The Calgary Folk Music Festival is coming back to Prince's Island Park this summer with a full lineup. 

Main stage performers include Spoon, Courtney Barnett, K'Naan — of Wavin' Flag fame — and Grammy-nominated band Black Pumas. 

There will also be Alberta locals performing, including Astral Swans, Bryson Waind, Wayfinding and The Hello Darlin's. 

This year's festival is gearing up to be an event resembling those that happened pre-COVID, said Kerry Clarke, artistic director of the Calgary Folk Music Festival.

"There's always that sort of COVID cloud over things. Everyone is a little rusty at things, but we know what we're doing and we're planning quite a regular festival," Clarke said. 

"I think it's going to be relatively normal and hopefully just a really joyous celebration and a joyous way to come back." 

There will be 70 artists performing at the four-day, multi-stage event. 

The festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic and returned as a scaled-down version last July.

Sara Leishman, executive director of the festival, says she's looking forward to the hum of activity but says they are facing some unique challenges.

"We're dealing with supply chain issues, so things like rental vehicles have turned out to be quite a challenge. Certainly volunteer numbers are a little bit slower than we'd hoped they would be." 

Leishman is hoping now that more festival details are being released, more people will sign up to volunteer.

The Calgary Folk Festival starts July 21 and wraps up July 24.