Ottawa's Folk Fest Gets a new Artistic Director, but is it too late?

Ottawa, Ontario, city of festivals. From Winterlude to the Tulip Festival, there’s a festival for everyone in Ottawa. And one of the city’s favorites just got another helping hand from Bluesfest. After years of growing debt climaxing with the bailout from Bluesfest in 2010, Folk Fest is once again on shaky ground. Just before the holidays, Artistic Director Dylan Griffith stepped down after just one year on the job. Enter Bluesfest Artistic Director, Mark Monahan. Monahan is now doing double duty as the Artistic Director for both Bluesfest and Folk Fest.

But is it too late? Can Monahan revive Folk Fest and make it as profitable, notable and successful as Bluesfest? Let’s face it, when the lineup for Bluesfest is announced, the entire population of Ottawa is struck with the juxtaposition of “that’s not blues” and “oh wow, KISS!” Despite acts like KISS and Ozomatli, Bluesfest still throws in a number of the world’s greatest blues acts. It’s an exciting and eclectic blend of artists known and unknown in a series of beautiful outdoor spots in Ottawa.

From a marketing perspective, Folk Fest needs to do the same. If you take a look at the 2010 Folk Fest lineup, it’s all Folk; yes, that’s the point of a folk festival, but it is not bringing the fans to the seats (notable exception: Arrested Development, but most fans were wondering where Jason Bateman and Michael Cera were). Even bigger names like Ani DiFranco and Rufus Wainwright are missing from the list – those names are at least well known. It’s all about content marketing and with a music festival, your lineup is your content.

Mr. Monahan, please do the city a favour, do Folk Fest a favour, and sell out just a little bit. Get some bigger names into Folk Fest. While you may create an underground nickname of “Folkish Fest,” that’s ok. At least they’re talking. At least they’re buying tickets. At least you’re out of the red.

Tell us what you think by commenting below. What does Folk Fest need to do to get back on track? Is Monahan the right pick? Did Bluesfest sell out too much over the years? We want to know.

Click here for the source article from the Ottawa Citizen.

David and Goliath: "Music and Beyond" Competing or Working with "Bluesfest"?

When anyone mentions festivals in Ottawa, there are a few "majors" that come to mind. One of these key festivals is, of course, the infamous Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, which attracted a total of 394,000 attendees in 2009. As the nation's festival capital, Ottawa boasts a number of extremely large, heavily hyped, and well-marketed events. Of all of these significant and culturally stimulating celebrations, Cisco Bluesfest is arguably the largest, or at least the most glorified. With such a monster claiming its presence for almost two full weeks in the middle of July annually, why would any other music festival even attempt to compete for attendees? Whatever the reason, a new classical music festival in Ottawa has decided to do just that.

Music and Beyond will take place in the nation's capital from July 5th to the 14th. Though the website lists numerous sponsors, including media, I can honestly say that the first and only time I have heard anything about it was while surfing the Ottawa Festivals website. (And truth be told, I was browsing the site to find out

when Bluesfest starts!) While the event features an impressive 85 concerts and 350 musicians, including world-renowned names, this first-time festival has nothing on the word-of-mouth marketing power that Bluesfest does. If this is the case, does Music and Beyond strive to draw attendees away from Bluesfest with little to no marketing of the event and no mainstream "star power"? Or does it act as an enhancement to the behemoth festival by providing a more "refined" selection to those who simply don't enjoy the more popular genres?

It seems safe to say that Music and Beyond would not attempt to duke it out with Bluesfest for attendees, but rather the whole point of scheduling one alongside the other is to entice even more tourists to the region. Between the two events running in tandem, families with dissimilar tastes in music can enjoy world-class performances in varied styles, and do it together in the nation's capital! So while you're online browsing the net for tickets to Iron Maiden, check out the Music and Beyond website. You may see something you're interested in that (surprisingly!) doesn't involve head banging or beer tents.