A mix of traditional and contemporary folk music will be piping out of Victoria Park as the Home County Music and Art Festival returns for another year.
The three-day festival, which runs Friday to Sunday, features 26 Canadian musicians on five stages, 100 craft vendors and 35 food vendors.
Sean McCann, founding member of the band Great Big Sea, makes his debut at the festival on Friday night. Others hitting the main stage include alt-county-rock band the Sadies, Celtic band Còig, and Elliott Brood. The Northern Pikes headline the main stage on Saturday night and are expected to draw a large number of first-timers to the festival.
"We've tried to make Home County a festival that is unlike any other festival that is held in the city," says Bob Klanac, festival board chair. "We get people coming up to us all the time, during the festival and throughout the year, telling us this is their favourite festival."
Klanac credits an unwavering commitment to only welcoming original craft artisans to participate in the festival, turning down those who sell only mainstream items that appear at all other fairs and festivals.
"It's a very relaxed environment, festival goers aren't being marketed to a lot, we don't allow that in our festival," says Klanac. "We really have tried to stay true to the roots of the organization that was founded in the late 70s."
Klanac says the festival finale, slated for 9:20pm on Sunday, will stay true to tradition.
"We get all of the crew and volunteers on stage to sing "Goodnight Irene" which use to be lead by Home County legend Jackie Washington every single year he was at the festival and its remained as a staple," says Klanac.
Roughly 60,000 people are expected to attend the festival. As always, admission is by donation.
To see the full performance schedule visit www.homecounty.ca.