Vancouver Folk Music Festival cancels 2023 event — and may be done for good

After four decades of music ringing out from multiple stages, Jericho Beach park will be silent this July.

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival Society (VFMFS) has announced that it will not be moving ahead with producing an event in 2023. The VFMFS has also called for a membership vote to dissolve the society at its annual general meeting on Feb. 1.

The event, which draws tens of thousands of festivalgoers, has been a fixture on the local arts and cultural calendar for 45 years. It garnered a devoted multi-generational following for its adventurous booking of traditional, contemporary and unique artists, often redefining the idea of what constituted folk music in the public mind. Framed by the mountains, the harbour and the park greenery, the setting is one-of-a-kind.

“Following last year’s ‘coming back’ festival, trends in costs of putting on events of this nature on lead us to do a deep dive into our finances,” said VFMFS president Mark Zuberbuhler. “While the event was successful on many fronts, after looking at the gap between costs in mounting the festival and the anticipated revenues we can bring in to support it, we’ve determined that it just isn’t viable.”