The MBNA VOscars was recently held for the first time in Ottawa on September 22^nd, 2011.  The event not only celebrates volunteerism, but it also recognizes those who raise awareness of volunteering, provide innovation in and around volunteering and/or encourage volunteerism in the community.

Ottawa Festivals is proud to announce  that one of its members, The Ottawa Folk Festival, was the proud recipient of the award for the Best Non-Profit Volunteer Program.  This award is given to an organization that has successfully built an environment that supports an enthusiastic and engaged volunteer base. It is also important for the organization to have an active volunteer program while providing a high quality volunteer environment while utilizing appropriate practices.

Congratulations again!

The 18th annual Folk Festival wrapped up Sunday night on a positive note.

Attendance for the festival, which was moved to Hog’s Back Park and extensively restructured by Bluesfest’s executive producer Mark Monahan, is up nearly 25% over the 2010 edition at Britannia Beach Park to between 18,000 and 20,000 total for the four-day weekend.

And that’s just the beginning. Next year, Monahan wants to grow the festival even bigger, upwards of 30,000. The question now is, what is he prepared to do with the programming in order to bring new fans to the park?

“We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the move to Hog’s Back Park and the changes we’ve made,” Monahan said Sunday night. “The structure of the Folk Festival is already there. If we focus on interactive programming, a tradition at the Folk Festival, we’ll retain the relaxed feel that people love.”

Read more on the Ottawa Sun website: Folk Festival ends on high note

EMC Entertainment – When children are asked what they want to be when they grow up, most parents hope for the classics-doctor, layer, teacher but what about a career in the arts?

Folk singer and sponsorship manager for Ottawa Folk Festival Ana Miura, didn’t start out wanting to be a famous rock star but just wanting to play music for fun. Thanks to a lot of hard work and a bit of luck she has developed a strong career in the music industry.

“It really depends, for all genres (of musicians) what your goals are. It depends on if you want to be famous or just want to make a living, it’s a different take. When I first started I did it for fun. I didn’t realize I could do that for a job,” said Miura. “When I finished school, I realized I could have a go at this because more people than my friends and family thought I was good.”

Miura has been a folk singer and songwriter for ten years but had her big break when she performed at the folk festival in 2009.

“My first break was through Chris White, previous artistic director for the Ottawa Folk Festival who gave me the opportunity to play at the festival. As an artist it’s essential (to play local venues) because if you’re playing in Ottawa or out of town, people are taking a chance on you. They look at where you’ve played and who supports you, especially if they’ve never seen you perform.

Read more on the EMC News website: Folk festival from artist’s perspective

OTTAWA — Terrific performances by Bruce Hornsby and Hawksley Workman helped kick off a new era for the Ottawa Folk Festival on Thursday.

The 18th annual edition of the grassroots music festival is under high-powered new management and taking place this weekend in a spacious new site at Hog’s Back Park. It continues Friday and runs until Sunday.

Well, the gods appear to be smiling on the new arrangement. The opening-night weather was perfect, the crowd of 4,000 showed up and the music was fantastic. Not that it wasn’t fantastic in previous years, but Thursday really felt like a night when everything clicked into place on a bigger and more professional scale than ever before.

Bruce Hornsby, who hasn’t been to Ottawa in the last couple of decades, was a great choice for headliner. Hunched over the grand piano, the American pianist was surrounded by the incredibly talented members of his Noisemakers band. As they jumped in on his tinkling, the song, White Wheeled Limousine, followed an unpredictable path of musical dynamics.

Between songs, Hornsby demonstrated a down-to-earth sense of humour and appalling French.

The 18th annual edition of the Ottawa Folk Festival, taking place Aug. 25-28, marks the dawn of a new era for the grassroots event. Now run by the same people who organize Ottawa’s biggest summer music festival, Bluesfest, our cosy little folkfest is about to experience a growth spurt.

For starters, it’s taking place in a spacious new site at Hog’s Back Park, where there’s room for multiple stages and thousands of people. Naturally, a key part of the strategy to get people in the park and attract a new generation of festivalgoers is to spend more money on artists. Prominent American musicians like Bruce Hornsby, Steve Earle, Bright Eyes and Levon Helm anchor this year’s $500,000 lineup.

But, in a refrain that echoes the where’s-the-blues-at-Bluesfest lament, folk-music fans are wondering where the folk is. At a time when folk music is thriving and a new generation of musicians is exploring folk traditions, the amount of traditional folk music at this year’s festival seems limited.

Chris Cobb, The Ottawa Citizen

They’re dubbing it Meet the Folkers.

But strictly speaking, it should be Meet the Folkers’ New Site: A piece of rolling green space behind Hog’s Back Falls within the borders of Heron Road, Riverside Drive and Hog’s Back Road.

The venerable, rarely financially secure Ottawa Folk Festival was on the verge of collapse after its disastrous, rain-saturated 2010 edition but has been resuscitated with an infusion of cash and seasoned personnel from the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest.

Now a subsidiary of Bluesfest, the folk festival has been uprooted from its Britannia Park beachside location of 15 years and transplanted at Hog’s Back Park, a venue for tobogganing children and cross-country skiers in the winter but little more than a cyclists’ thoroughfare in the summer.

It’s an undulating site that folk festival supervisor and Bluesfest boss Mark Monahan had eyed in 2005 for Bluesfest toward the end of its stay at City Hall’s Festival Plaza.

“Eventually, (the current) LeBreton (Flats) site became available for Bluesfest,” said Monahan, “but I always felt (Hog’s Back) would be a great spot for the folk festival. When I became involved, it became the obvious site.”

“(Our new location) gives you the opportunity to see a lot of these artists in an intimate setting.

“It also gives people a chance to see artists in the workshops, there’s a lot of interactive opportunities,” said artistic director and Folk Festival supervisor Mark Monahan.

“It’s really a gem of a site, a beautiful setting in the heart of the city.

“We’re very excited to have Hogs Back Park as the new home for the festival.”

The Ottawa Folklore Centre is one of the founding sponsors of the event and has been heavily involved with the preparations including setting up numerous interactive workshops.

“It’s really important to have their involvement and have local artists apart of the Folk Festival,” Monahan added.

The Folk Festival used to be held at Britannia Park but because of some limitations the festival was moved to Hog’s Back Park this year.

“The festival is not viable in its (older) location for a number of reasons, but mainly because of accessibility,” said Monahan.

Read more on the Ottawa Citizen website: Folk Festival more accessible this year

Ottawa, August 16, 2011 — Ottawa Folk Festival organizers today confirmed that this year’s  festival will offer music fans of all ages an opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument, join a choir, sit in on an Appalachian jam session, stop by the KidZone to make unique textile pieces, or even get expert advice on DIY bike repair.

“The Ottawa Folk Festival has always been a community-oriented event, where patrons can enjoy a wide variety of unique and educational experiences,” says festival supervisor Mark Monahan. This year, festival patrons will be able to spend the entire weekend of the event exploring the ‘Workshops on the Point’, a variety of Jam Sessions, the KidZone, and the ever-popular Envirotent.

Workshops on The Point (curated by the Ottawa Folklore Centre) offer educational workshops with professionals, as well as — for many of the workshops—lender instruments on which to learn, including guitars, banjos, ukuleles and more

Some highlights from the workshops include: Delta Blues Basics, an introduction to playing delta blues guitar led by Rick Fines; intro to ukulele, a two-part workshop hosted by Australia’s [The] Little Stevies; song-circles hosted be various members of the Folk Festival’s fabulous line-up; Sirens With Strings, where Basia Bulat and Madison Violet will share their love for cool and unusual stringed things; and interviews with the likes of Colin Hay (of Men At Work) among others.

Music fans can be part of this once-in-a-lifetime festival experience at this year’s Ottawa Folk Festival, August 25 – 28, 2011. Visit ottawafolk.com for more on this and other festival news.

[Source: Magnetic North press release]

Like its polar namesake, the Magnetic North Theatre Festival roves around the country, visiting a new Canadian city every second year and returning to its hosts at the National Arts Centre in between. Designed to raise the profile of contemporary English Canadian theatre at home and abroad, Magnetic North is truly one of Canada’s great artistic success stories.

Meet Private Eye Jake Doyle on set in colourful St. John’s, NL
Flight and hotel accommodations included

A return trip to beautiful St. John’s Newfoundland from anywhere in Canada, where you will visit the set of the popular Canadian television series the Republic of Doyle. Enjoy the opportunity to meet the cast and co-star Allan Hawco, Private Eye Jake Doyle, and perform as an extra on the show. Flight and hotel accommodations are included in this auction package.

Private Eye Jake Doyle returns for a raucous third season of CBC’s Republic of Doyle, solving cases, dodging punches and chasing criminals through the hilly, colourful streets of seaside St. John’s. Allan Hawco stars as the charming and irreverent detective who struggles daily to navigate the complications of running the family P.I. business while keeping his very tangly private life in check.

Auction Here

A Taste of Newfoundland!
A private meal for 10 with special guests and music

Enjoy an evening hosted by Peter Herrndorf, President and CEO of the National Arts Centre, and Ann Connors, Executive Director of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival along with special guests. Let them entertain you and nine of your friends with authentic Maritimes cuisine, drinks and live music and see how they party on the Rock!

Auction Here

2013 Magnetic North Theatre Festival Passes
2 full festival passes to Magnetic North in Ottawa

Catch some of Canada’s best theatre companies while they are all in one place! Don’t miss your chance to see fantastic productions from all across Canada, meet national and international presenters, and mingle with great Canadian artists at the 2013 edition in Ottawa! Check out www.magneticnorthfestival.ca for more Festival information.

Auction Here

2011-12 National Arts Centre subscriptions
2 subscriptions for the National Arts Centre English Theatre 2011-12 Theatre Season

King Lear, Oliver!, Salt-Water Moon; these plays mark signature work from theatre artists at the height of their creative powers. Add to that 2 Pianos 4 Hands and the world premiere of Penny Plain and the NAC Theatre season is sure to leave a lasting impression.

Auction Here

A Basket of Ottawa Culture!
My Ottawa includes culture – and lots of it! Experience the many sides of Ottawa’s culture with this basket of passes, novels and tickets.

2 weekend passes to the 2011 Ottawa Folk Festival
1 pass to the 2011 Ottawa International Writers Festival
5 thrilling novels
2 tickets to the Mayfair Theatre

Auction Here

Theatre tickets to some of the hottest theatres in town!
Experience what Ottawa has to offer this season with subscriptions and tickets to some of the hottest theatres in town!

2 subscriptions for New Theatre of Ottawa’s 2011-12 Season in the Arts Court Theatre
2 subscriptions for Evolution Theatre’s 2011-12 Season in the Arts Court Theatre
2 tickets to attend any performance of the Great Canadian Theatre Company’s 2011-12 mainstage season

Auction Here

Photo courtesy of EMC

The Ottawa Folk Festival is soon to kick off so what better time than now to spot light it’s founding sponsor the Ottawa Folklore Centre.

Many people in the community may have taken lessons from the centre or know musicians who became success stories from talents learned from within their walls, but who really knows the back-story?

Full story: So much more than music