The Peterborough Folk Festival is a three-day music, arts, and community festival in Peterborough, Ontario. The festival is a non-profit organization which receives funding from the Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation, The Department of Canadian Heritage -Arts Presentation Canada Program, and The City of Peterborough as well as private and corporate donations. It is one of the last free folk festivals in Ontario. In 2008, it will celebrate its 20th year presenting music in Peterborough.
The mandate of the PFF is to present high-quality music from a broad range of genres and cultures, as well as to foster community education and interaction.
Typically, the festival has an opening Gala on Friday, a Club Crawl on Saturday, and a free, day-long event in Rotary Park (adjacent to Nicol's Oval) on Sunday. In 2008, the festival plans to shift forward one day, beginning on Thursday and running until Saturday.
The current Artistic Director is Candace Shaw.
In 2001, the PFF introduced the Emerging Artist Award. Designed to promote and support young artists from the Peterborough Region, the award is given annually to an artist who has demonstrated skill as a songwriter and performer. The first winner of this award was Canadian musician Serena Ryder.
2001 - Serena Ryder
2002 - James McKenty (James McKenty and the Spades)
2003 - Jill Staveley (The Staveley Project)
2004 - Beau Dixon
2005 - Benj Rowland (The County Boys)
2006 - Drea Nasager
2007 - Dave Simard and Kelly McMichaels[1]
2008 - Sean P. Conway [1]
2009 - Missy Knott
2010 - Kate LeDeuce