MARIPOSA FOLK FESTIVAL FEATURES LIGHTFOOT TRIBUTES AND SING-ALONG OF HIS SONGS
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
ORILLIA — At its heart the Mariposa Folk Festival has always been about Gordon Lightfoot.
This year particularly so.
Start to finish this weekend’s three-day fest begins tomorrow night at its Tudhope park home with a rare treat to kick things off.
“The Way We Feel” Friday evening is a Lightfoot tribute on the main stage, with featured artists including Matthew Barber, Lori Cullen, DALA, The Good Brothers, Meredith Moon, Kevin Fox, Jory Nash, with an All-Star House Band featuring Burke Carroll, Jason Fowler, Anne Lindsay, David Matheson & David Woodhead with Emcee, David Newland.
And on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. the Gordon Lightfoot band will be on the main stage for a special presentation.
Chris Hazel, manager of the Mariposa Folk Foundation wouldn’t divulge what that recognition is — only that “it’s a surprise,” he told me this week.
A hint may be that Lightfoot’s long-time friend and contemporary Judy Collins will be performing just after 6 p.m. before the presentation.
No doubt “Sundown” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” will echo throughout the tall trees as many performers will share memories and songs.
Including Steve Porter, Scott Thomas, Michael Martyn who will do a “Lightfoot Singalong” at the Village Stage Sunday at 5 p.m. that is certain to be loudly heard.
Can Mariposa survive without Lightfoot? We’ll find out.
It’s those 72 hours between the opening and closing of “Peace, Love and Mariposa” that the hundreds of artists and acts will mark the true turnaround for this iconic music event from a Kiwanis pinnacle to a more diverse and eclectic Canadian and international showcase.
The legend will live on from the shores of Lake Couchiching ….
But in his wake are a wave of exciting, talented singers and songwriters.
“There’s lots of great music, from headliners like Feist, Tegan and Sara and Matt Andersen. Plus a great mix of workshops filled with wide-ranging musicians.”
Aside are dozens of opportunities to hear informal performances in a casual peninsula setting. Among them on the Mariposa stage Pub Stage at 12:20 Matt Andersen & the Big Bottle of Joy.
There’s also lots of free great acts at Orillia’s downtown stage.
Matt Andersen & the Big Bottle of Joy are Friday night’s main stage headliners and Tegan and Sara are Saturday night’s ending stars.
Rufus Wainwright and Feist wrap up things Sunday night on the main stage.
See their website at http://www.mariposafolk.com Or the schedule lineup at https://prog.tsharp.xyz/en/mariposa/2.
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