What you can expect from this year's Winnipeg Folk Fest

The Winnipeg Folk Festival is coming up this weekend, and festival-goers can expect a variety of musical acts, local food vendors, and an outdoor gallery.

Those in attendance will have the chance to see Vance Joy, William Prince, Fleet Foxes, Emmylou Harris, The War on Drugs, and Gregory Alan Isakov.

The festival will also include a new Main Stage, made from 75 per cent recycled materials.

“It’s bigger and better. We’re going to have better sight lines. We’re going to have better audio, better artist experience, better video screens for people to see,” said Lynn Skromeda, the festival’s executive director.

“It’s really going to improve the experience for all of the evening shows.”

During the day, Folk Fest offers workshops with different artists coming together to perform on the same stage. One of this year’s workshops is called ‘All in the Family,’ with Loudon Wainwright III, Lucy Wainwright-Roche and Rufus Wainwright all performing together.

Other workshops involve a variety of different artists who have never played together before.

“That’s where the real magic happens at Folk Fest,” Skromeda said.

Along with musician and festival goers, there will be 2,300 volunteers at the event helping things run smoothly. There are also many others who want to help out, as there is a waiting list to volunteer for the first time in over a decade.

“We’ve got lots of people out, ready to help, ready to go,” Skromeda said, adding that everything is going smoothly in terms of logistics.

It’s expected that about 75,000 people will attend Folk Fest this weekend.

Folk Fest takes place from July 6 to 9 at Birds Hill Provincial Park. Tickets can be purchased online, and won’t be sold at the main gate.

- With files from CTV’s Joseph Bernacki.