Music
Festivals
2026 Winnipeg Folk Festival Preview
The already-sold-out 51st edition of the festival begins tomorrow with headliner Father John Misty
Filed under: Festivals
It's official. The 51st Winnipeg Folk Festival is entirely sold out! We're talking single day tickets, full weekend passes, and every camping option available for the fest's 2026 edition running July 9–12. Yowza! I don't have official statistics yet to confirm the following statement, but I think this might be a new record. I have never seen the Winnipeg Folk Festival completely sell out, days before the event even begins, and neither has Showbiz Monkeys in its 17 years of covering the festival.
People are clearly fired up for this annual celebration of music, art, and community, which sees thousands of folkies gather just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba, in beautiful Birds Hill Provincial Park, to experience some of the hottest music from around the world -- and equally sizzling temperatures.
Showbiz Monkeys has been capturing WFF in photo, video, interviews, and writing since 2009. I'm honoured to be joining the crew for a fourth time to write about this prairie party that I adore so much.
Even if you didn't snag a ticket this year, take a few minutes to read the rest of this article and check out some of the music -- from the comfort of an air-conditioned space, perhaps? Your new favourite artist could be a few clicks away!
If you will be journeying between the park's nine stages and kicking back on a tarp during sunset, here are 8 acts you might want to consider highlighting in your schedule. As always, these are merely a few of the artists I'm excited to see throughout the weekend, and I'm looking forward to being surprised by new discoveries, too. See you there? I'll be the one desperately trying to outrun heat exhaustion, but still undoubtedly getting up to dance. Happy folk fest!
Angine de Poitrine
Friday, July 10 – 11:05 PM (Big Blue @ Night)
There's a high chance you've heard of Angine de Poitrine, or at least seen their black and white polka-dotted costumes, because they have rocketed to fame in the last several months. If you haven't, maybe I can give you a glimpse into the phenomenon -- here is my journey with the band, listed in chronological order: Curious (the hype is a worldwide frenzy). Scared (their grotesque masks). Wary (everyone is doing the same hand sign... is this a cult?). Intrigued, once again (rave reviews from music geek friends). Astonished (the precision! the speed! the talent!). If my emotional rollercoaster doesn't intrigue you enough, perhaps the name of their genre -- math rock -- will. Or the fact that the identities of this Québecois duo remain a mystery. Or the recent headlines reporting an attendance of 70,000 (some estimates reaching 100,000) people at their free show at Montreal Jazz Fest last month. Whatever draws you to them, you're in for explosive creativity and totally immersive performance art that you've likely never seen before -- and must experienced live.
Brìghde Chaimbeul
Saturday, July 11 – 4:15 PM (Little Stage in the Forest)
One of the many things I appreciate about Folk Fest is that it introduces me to instruments I have never seen performed or even knew existed. Brìghde Chaimbeul's main instrument is an example of this: the Scottish smallpipes, described in her bio as "the mellower, more emotive cousin to the Highland bagpipes." Chaimbeul plays a bellows-blown version of the smallpipes, meaning she operates a bellows under one arm to generate the air to power the instrument, leaving her mouth free to speak or sing while playing. SO cool! She is a native Gaelic speaker from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and at just 18 years old she won the BBC Young Folk Award. Now 28, she is still a powerful force in a largely male-dominated field. I'm eager to see what she will bring to the numerous workshops she's slated to play, and of course for what I anticipate to be a mesmerizing solo concert under the trees.
Fun fact: I discovered in my research that Chaimbeul appeared as a soloist on the single "Blood & Butter" by Caroline Polachek, one of my favourite experimental pop artists!
DUG
Saturday, July 11 – 2:45 PM (Shady Grove)
When I saw a band from Ireland on the lineup, I immediately started gearing up for some energetic reels, jigs, and classic folk fest dancing. As a big fan of trad music, I jump on every (albeit infrequent) opportunity to see some good Celtic tunes live in Winnipeg. So when I read further and saw that these lads were labelled as... wait... Americana?! Well, I was dismayed, and I almost wrote them off. Doing due diligence, though, I played a tune -- and 47 minutes later, I had listened to their entire album. I am slightly embarrassed, but even more pleased, to need admonishment for my temporarily narrow mind. DUG is now one of my festival must-sees and I can't wait to see the duo's funny banter and lovely blend of resonator guitar, banjo, and soulful voices. They have my feet tapping and my heart hooked. This is exactly the kind of storytelling folk I come back to see year after year.
Killabeatmaker
Sunday, July 12 – 2:30 PM (Big Bluestem)
This Colombian DJ-producer and his live band are going to have the audience moving with their very first song -- or at least I will be, because I cannot sit still while listening to their music. Hilder Brando Osorno, the man behind the moniker, infuses Colombian rhythms, Afrobeats, Amapiano, and Cumbia with electronic production to create irresistible tunes. Musicians Guadalupe Giraldo and Julian Ramirez join him on drums, percussion, the Colombian gaita, and vocals for a captivating live show dynamic. My only disappointment is that their solo set is at Big Bluestem before it makes the switch to Big Blue @ Night -- I just know their music would make the late-night crowd go wild. Regardless, I have no doubt that they will light up the stage during their daytime slot and especially in their workshop with other Latin American groups Chicha Libre and Empanadas Ilegales, which is sure to be a fiery meeting of technique and the grooviest energy.
Sylvan Esso
Saturday, July 11 – 10:45 PM (Main Stage)
!!!!!!!!!! I'm very tempted to leave this blurb with only 10 exclamation marks -- one for each letter in Sylvan Esso's name. I mean, where do I start?! This is a band I would travel to see in concert, and I never dreamed I would see them on home territory at WFF. The married couple, Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, are from Durham, North Carolina. You might know Meath from her other ensemble, Mountain Man, or Sanborn from his solo project, Made of Oak. As Sylvan Esso, they pair her singing with his production to make music that feels simultaneously liquid and mellow but also invigorating and danceable. It's a combination that doesn't feel like it should work, but really does. Meath's voice is a smooth dream, Sanborn's beats are intricate, and their lyrics are poetry. Her dancing and his live production make a stage presence of two no obstacle for this powerhouse duo.
Katie Tupper
Friday, July 10 – 1:00 PM (Snowberry Field)
The presence of R&B at Folk Fest is not as common as many other genres, so it's always an eye-catcher when it makes an appearance. Katie Tupper is representing the style this year with a rich, deep alto range and honest lyrics that have garnered millions of streams and a dedicated fan base. I've heard Tupper's name numerous times, highly recommended by a good friend of mine, but my guilty admission is that it took me a long time to give her listen. Since she hails from Saskatchewan, I foolishly thought that Tupper was a quiet singer-songwriter type, penning prairie music with a pinch of country added, and I suppose I wasn't looking for that at the time. (Apologies to Saskatchewan for momentarily assuming monoculture. *nervous laugh*) Tupper's voice is an enchanting and refreshing offer amidst this year's mix of music. As she describes, "the songs unfold like having a drink with your best friend, pointing fingers, admitting guilt, dissecting feelings and situations from the heart."
shishi
Friday, July 10 – 8:15 PM (Big Blue @ Night)
shishi's music makes you feel like putting on chunky boots and stomping around, believing women have power and can be loud and scrappy and demand more for themselves and the world. It's also simply great music -- tight drums, funky bass, and killer, raw guitar. The Lithuanian trio describes themselves as "what surf music would sound like if it was made in the dark near the frozen shores of the Baltic Sea -- because it was." They played Harvest Moon Festival in Clearwater, Manitoba this fall and blew the roof off. The crowd was so hyped from their performances that the band quickly pulled together a last-minute show to play in Winnipeg the day after the festival ended, and they sold that out too! I've seen a lot of people in WFF's social media comments expressing their excitement for shishi's return, and I couldn't agree more.
Brother Wallace
Saturday, July 11 – 4:15 PM (Snowberry Field)
Brother Wallace didn't instantly catch my eye, the main reason likely being the sheer number of artists at WFF. But he also had an unassuming presence in his photo and description -- no eye-catching costumes or large band membership, just a man and his voice. But the power of even one voice should never be underestimated, and wow -- what a voice! It's enough to stop you in your tracks and compel you to park yourself at whichever stage it's coming from. Brother Wallace creates music that exudes joy and warmth and will make you feel GOOD. His live performances are animated and expressive and his connection with his backing band is synergistic. He released his debut album just two months ago, in May 2026, working on it during his breaks from teaching K–12 music, which he continues to do in his home state of Georgia. A teacher and a touring musician?! Double star power.
Shoutouts
Squeezing in a few more... because how can I possibly choose only 8?!
- Lucy Dacus (Friday, July 10 – 10:45 PM – Main Stage)
- SNACKTIME (Saturday, July 11 – 7:30 PM – Main Stage)
- The Pairs (Sunday, July 12 – 4:30 PM – Shady Grove)
- Wolf Parade (Friday, July 10 – 9:35 PM – Big Blue @ Night)
- Jacob Brodovsky (Friday, July 10 – 3:30 PM – Spruce Hollow)
Tags: Winnipeg Folk Festival, WFF2026, Angine de Poitrine, Brìghde Chaimbeul, DUG, Killabeatmaker, Sylvan Esso, Katie Tupper, shishi, Brother Wallace
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