CityFolk lineup revealed: List of performers includes Greta Van Fleet, The Beaches, Jason Isbell (2024)

This year’s edition of CityFolk will mark the 30th anniversary of its roots as the Ottawa Folk Festival with an eclectic lineup of performers that includes retro rockers Greta Van Fleet, punk stalwarts Rise Against, Toronto quartet The Beaches, country rocker Jason Isbell and more.

The program is all about balance, said Mark Monahan, executive director of CityFolk and its big-sister festival, Bluesfest. Instead of booking a blockbuster headliner each night, this year offers a curated selection of acts across a spectrum of genres.

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“I’m not going to say any one act is the best get,” Monahan said. “But we’re very happy with the overall lineup. There are multiple acts every night that we think will hopefully draw people.”

The festival runs Sept. 11-15 in its usual home on the Great Lawn at Lansdowne Park, with live music presented on three stages, including a main stage sponsored by TD. Total capacity of the site is about 10,000, Monahan said.

The pop-rock power chords of The Beaches are in the spotlight on opening night, followed by a muscular Thursday-night bill featuring Michigan’s Zep-inspired Greta Van Fleet and Canadian rock duo Crown Lands, along with folkier fare such as Ontario’s train-loving singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith, the pow wow-meets-classic country sounds of Tennessee Cree and the youthful Wakefield guitar hero Jacob River Milnes.

Friday brings a blast of rock energy with Chicago’s Rise Against headlining a program that also includes Texas’ musical adventurers Explosions in the Sky and Swedish prog-metal act Soen, plus Cat Power Sings Dylan 66, which is her take on Bob Dylan’s 1966 concert at Royal Albert Hall.

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Germany’s electro-pop duo Milky Chance will get folks dancing on Saturday night, sharing the program with the globe-trotting Montreal-Ottawa band, Half Moon Run, Ottawa’s soulful Almyr Jules and indie folksinger John Muirhead.

The final day of the festival sees alt-country Grammy champ Jason Isbell and his band the 400 Unit in the top slot, with guitar legend Alejandro Escovedo, country darling Maren Morris and Toronto’s sweet-voiced newcomer Billianne filling out the schedule.

As for pricing, Monahan said passes will cost the same as last year.

“We’ve established a certain audience for CityFolk, and as long as we sit with this game plan of being a single-weekend event and curate the programming so people feel there’s value to get them out, we can keep the price reasonable. That’s part of the target,” he said.

A one-day presale on weekend passes ($169) starts at 10 a.m. and runs until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday (May 29). Regular prices ($189) and single-day sales begin at 10 a.m. Thursday (May 30). To purchase, go to cityfolk.frontgatetickets.com.

For more details, head to cityfolkfestival.com.

lsaxberg@postmedia.com

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