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

The Winnipeg Folk Festival has released the lineup of artists taking the stage in its 50th edition, including Grammy Award-winning talent, a hall of famer and some nostalgic Canadian favourites.

From homegrown to international performers, 68 artists are performing at Birds Hill Provincial Park from July 10 to 13, bringing a wide range of music genres, from gospel, funk and R&B to country, rock and several variations of folk.

"Not unlike other years, we've got a lot of talent that'll be new to the festival for the first time and we'll also have a bunch of artists who have played throughout the last five decades," artistic director Chris Frayer told CBC Manitoba Information Radio guest host Margaux Watt on Friday.

"And just a ton of other great stuff that we just hope people dive into and explore and discover what we have."

Among the big names on this year's list is music legend Mavis Staples — a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Blues Hall of Fame and Gospel Music Hall of Fame — who will perform for her first time at the festival.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are also making their debut on a Birds Hill park stage this year, fresh off their Grammy win for best folk album of the year.

Returning to the summer event is Grammy Award-winning musician and activist Ani DiFranco, who made her first appearance there in 1992.

Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, who's won six Grammys, is also coming back for his first appearance since 2015, alongside the 400 Unit band.

Quebec singer-songwriter Allison Russell, another Grammy Award winner, is also among the headliners, along with the Australian jazz band the Cat Empire.  

Among Manitoba's homegrown talent is music icon and children's entertainer Fred Penner, Grammy-nominated Winnipeg band the Duhks and pop singer-songwriter Begonia.

"And of course, we'll have the zany antics of Al Simmons," Frayer said. "I think he's played the festival 14 times."

Among performers making a return engagement are some who were there for the very first festival back in 1974.

"Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer were there first festival, also Ben Mink … [who] plays with Myron and Victor Schultz in Manitoba band Finjan."

Mink, who now lives in B.C., played with Stringband, who were at the first festival, "so he'll be making his way back," Frayer said.

Mink is a longtime collaborator of k.d. lang, has played on recordings by Rush and was also a member of the backup band for Chuck Berry.

"We'll definitely be giving some space for some stories of past festivals and some music. We'll have a main workshop at the festival to celebrate the history of the event," Frayer said.

"So yeah, it's been basically trying to put together a lineup that kind of reflects where we've been and where we are and where we're heading and looking forward to the next 50 years."

The festival will also feature Indigenous artists, including Métis singer-songwriter Ruby Waters, who is returning to the festival since her first appearance in 2022, and Anishinaabe singer-songwriter Leonard Sumner, from Little Saskatchewan First Nation. 

Bringing their talent from outside of Canada are Los Bitchos, an English band pulling together Latin rhythms with Turkish psych rock, metal and disco, Ukraine's Maryna Krut, an artist of the plucked-string bandura instrument, and Ye Vagabonds, an Irish folk duo — all making their first appearances.

A full lineup is available on the Folk Fest's website.

For festival executive director Valerie Shantz, the 50th event holds a personal connection, which she only learned about recently from family.

"After I accepted the position here [in January 2024], I was told I was at the first festival, so part of it is a family history of coming to the festival for so many decades and of loving the festival," she told Watt on Information Radio.

Like Frayer, she wants this year's event to "honour our past and move us forward into the future. It's a nice pivot point for us — 50 is a significant landmark, not everybody makes it."

The 50th actually should have already happened, but COVID-19 pandemic restrictions set things back.

"When we came out of the pandemic, we were like, there's no way we can just jump into 50th anniversary mode after what we've been through," Frayer said.

"So it was really good to just kind of take a deep breath and just kind of give ourselves some preparatory time to just get everything together so we could do this right."

The tariff disputes between Canada and the United States haven't really impacted festival planning in many ways, but Shantz did say there are a number of Americans who come up to volunteer.

"We want to make sure that they know it's still going to be a safe and welcoming place. The Folk Fest is about bringing people together and even though there might be disagreements happening amongst governments, those at Folk Fest really just want to be together, and we want to maintain that similar kind of culture and feel at the festival," she said.

"I'm confident that's going to happen."