'Still the same park, still the same feeling': 40 years of the Vancouver folk festival

There is one particular moment from the first Vancouver Folk Music Festival nearly 40 years ago that is seared in Gary Cristall's memory. 

"Of course it rained like cats and dogs on us," said Cristall, the festival's co-founder and one of its first artistic directors. 

The first festival took place in a muddy field in Stanley Park, closing the first of three evenings with popular local band Flying Mountain.

"People sat there in the mud through the entire thing, stood up and demanded more," he said. 

"At that point it was a kind of vindication. We knew that there was a hunger for what we were doing and it bode well for us to continue doing it."

Cristall estimates about 10,000 people attended that festival in August 1978. This weekend, about 50,000 people are expected to show up at Jericho Beach to ring in the 40th festival.

Over the years, the non-profit, volunteer-run festival has remained one of the most popular celebrations in Metro Vancouver. It has even outlived lucrative mega-festivals like the ones at Squamish and Pemberton, which recently folded.

According to its founder, at the heart of the Vancouver folk festival's success is a unique community atmosphere not found at other music festivals and a dedication to connecting audiences with politically-charged music from all over the world.

Defining 'folk'

The festival now takes place at Jericho Beach, where it has been since its second year.

Seven stages dot the seaside park, with artists collaborating during simultaneous performances throughout the day. In the evenings, the music from three concert stages drifts across the Georgia Straight as volunteers carrying paper lanterns meander through the audience.

According to Cristall, in many ways, the festival is not much different today from when he was at the helm. 

At the time, other folk festivals had popped up here and there across the country. For many of them, including the Vancouver festival, folk music was defined as strictly acoustic.

"We were quite purists in that sense," Cristall said.

But the lyrics were also politically charged, driven by social movements like women's liberation and environmentalism — and not often heard on the airwaves.  

"I wanted to change the world and thought that folk music was my opportunity to do that," he said. 

Cristall's definition of folk music also included a broader interpretation that included traditional music from cultures all over the world. 

Over the years, that has led the Vancouver folk festival to be well-known for its international flare.

'Still the same feeling'

That's a tradition its current artistic director, Linda Tanaka, has gladly continued. This year's festival includes bands from Haiti, Sweden and Egypt.

In many ways the festival remains in line with its original vision of connecting audiences with music they may not encounter in their day-to-day lives. 

"It's still the same park, still the same feeling," Tanaka said.

There are some changes, however. Despite a similar definition of folk music, the festival is no longer an exclusively acoustic affair. Patrons are as likely to hear DJs as the didgeridoo. ​

But other aspects of the festival also remain the same. As Tanaka looked around, she looked at the grey sky above wondering if it would bring rain.

Just like 40 years ago, the weather is one element festival organizers can't control. 

"I don't really know this year what's going to happen," she said. "No matter what, rain or shine, we go on."