CityFolk has come a long way and marks its 25 th year since its original incarnation as the Ottawa Folk Festival was launched back in 1994 by Max Wallace (Station Manager of the communityradio station CKCU-FM). Wallace was the festival’s Director for its first two years of operation, (1994 & 1995). First held on Victoria Island (Ottawa River), it moved to Britannia in 1995 where it remained until 2010. The team behind Ottawa Bluesfest began to produce the festival in 2011 and from 2011–2014 the festival was held at Hog’s Back Park in central Ottawa. In 2015, Mark Monahan, who is the the current executive and artistic director and his team re-branded the Ottawa Folk Festival as the CityFolk Festival and re- located it to the beautiful and far more accessible facility at Lansdowne Park. By AJ Sauve N ow, a multi-genre event, CityFolk has increased attendance from hundreds daily to tens of thousands for festival goers taking in this end of summer music festival in the Nation’s capital of Ottawa. Featured acts have included Van Morrison, Bon Iver, Kendick Lamar, Lorde, Avett Brothers, J. Cole, Vance Joy, James Bay, Vampire Weekend, Jack Johnson, and Post Malone, among others making CityFolk a true festival come back success story thanks to the hard work and efforts of Mark Monahan and his Ottawa Bluesfest team.
It looks like 2018 will see the continued success of this amazing event with yet another stellar lineup for CityFolk that includes the inimitable David Byrne; the voice of the Doobie Brothers
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JULY 2018
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