Folk Music Canada will be launching a new national showcase and industry event, to be held in Toronto from November 30 to December 3, 2016. Called FolkNorth, the gathering will spotlight export showcases, foster Canadian folk industry and provide professional development to current and future generations of folk presenters and leaders.
Anchored in the goal of expanding market opportunities for the Canadian folk industry, and spotlighting the strength of Canadian folk talent on a world stage, FolkNorth will showcase 24 of Canada’s best folk acts. The event will also include showcases featuring 8 international artists as part of reciprocal partnerships with foreign music organizations destined to increase international trade relationships. To complement the showcasing activities, FolkNorth will invite 40 ‘buyer’ delegates to attend the event, and organize over 500 B2B meetings to foster market development.
“The Canadian folk music sector is a vibrant, productive and prolific component of the Canadian cultural fabric and industry. It has, for decades, given rise to some of Canada’s most cherished cultural treasures, and some of our strongest artistic exports,” said Tamara Kater, Executive Director of Folk Music Canada. “With FolkNorth, we are thrilled to finally offer a space for our national folk music industry to focus on growth, development and investment for the future.
With an anticipated attendance of 150 industry delegates, three-day event is designed to be small in scope, focused on offering high-level opportunities to established Canadian artists, agents, managers and publicists, as well as providing the Canadian folk presenting community professional development opportunities.
In keeping with its mission, and as a response to the needs of the Canadian folk sector, the board of directors of Folk Music Canada has identified three key objectives and the related programming to be carried out at FolkNorth, an overview of which can be found below.
Applications to showcase at FolkNorth will open on during the week of May 23, and close Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at midnight PST. Only export-ready and exporting artists will be considered. More information about event registration, industry opportunities, cost to showcase and other FolkNorth activities will be announced in the coming weeks.
Folk Music Canada will continue to offer an array of showcase and market development opportunities, at Canadian and international events, throughout 2016-17. For more information on those activities, please consult our website here.
FolkNorth is made possible with the financial support of FACTOR, the Canada Council for the Arts, The Government of Canada and of Canada’s private radio broadcasters, and the support of our media and promotional partner, SpinCount.
WHAT IS FOLK MUSIC?
Folk Music Canada takes a broad and contemporary view of what defines Canadian folk music as a genre. In fact, we believe that the very process of challenging the boundaries of folk music helps to define it. We encourage artists, and their representatives, from the following genres (and beyond) to consider participating in this event, and our ongoing activities: singer-songwriter, world, blues, contemporary folk, indie-folk, Americana, Canadiana, trad, Francophone and more.
OVERVIEW OF OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
Objective
Activities
Export showcasing and B2B development
- Invite 40 domestic and international buyers to take part in the event (programmers, agents, managers etc)
- Showcase 32 export-ready artists (24 Canadian, 8 international)
- Matchmake more than 500 one-on-one, B2B meetings
- Host daily networking mixers and receptions
Presenter professional development
- Organize peer-led round-table discussions on best practices
- Encourage group solutions to commonly faced challenges
- Foster skill-building in the folk presenting sector
Industry mentorship and development
- Offer FolkFutures - a mentorship program pairing 12 emerging folk leaders with established folk industry veterans (programmers, agents, managers, publicists etc)
- Host peer-led workshops to building skills for the next generation of the folk industry
- Moderate discussions on how to foster industry development within the folk sector
About Folk Music Canada:
Folk Music Canada is a membership organization that supports and promotes the Canadian folk music community and its industry. We work to raise awareness about the importance, diversity and cultural value of all types of folk music in Canada. Visit Folk Music Canada on the web, “like” on facebook or “follow” on twitter.
FOLK MUSIC CANADA CONTACT:
Tamara Kater, Executive Director
tamara@folkmusiccanada.ca
416-356-8626
@folkmusiccanada
MEDIA CONTACT:
Kimberly Sinclair | SpinCount Music Promotions
kimberly@spincount.com
902-350-3968
spincount.ca
@spincount
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