Back in 1975, brothers John and Tim Harrison got the idea of starting a folk festival in their hometown of Owen Sound, just 20 minutes down the road from Meaford. Searching for a suitable site for their first, low-key event, they settled on Kelso Beach Park, on the west shore of Owen Sound Bay. And settled is the right word. At the time, the park was a flat, almost marshy area nearby factories often used as a dump. The inaugural event featured such artists as Shirley Eikhard, Willie P. Bennett, and the Original Sloth Band playing on makeshift stages, and in lieu of ponchos and branded seating pads, the organizers sold garbage bags to protect folkie butts from the wet ground.

Tomorrow at 5 p.m. the 36 edition of the Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival kicks off. In the years since that quiet debut, the festival has grown into one of Ontario’s premiere music events (indeed one of the most respected folk festivals anywhere), showcasing remarkable international artists on numerous outdoor stages – including the permanent, covered main stage, which faces a limestone and grass amphitheatre and hosts the main nightly events – and the large and popular “Down By The Bay” tent, which features performances throughout the day and into the night in a licensed setting.

Summerfolk mainstage

True to its folk festival roots, the event features “workshops” throughout the day at various stages – gatherings of different musicians from different acts who interact and play music around each workshop’s theme.

And from the beginning, Summerfolk has been about more than music. Artisans and craftspeople of remarkable talent and range offer their wares for sale in booths in a small, friendly, outdoor market. Of course, there’s a variety of food for all tastes, too.

Each year, the festival is notable as much for the new discoveries as the established artists. This year features such folk stalwarts as Tom Leighton, James Gordon and David Francey, as well as up-and-comers The Once (the Newfoundland vocal group that’s been showing up at all the award shows the past couple of years) and Australia’s “alt-pop darlings” The Little Stevies – along with more than two dozen more other performers and groups.

Try it once, and you’ll be hooked.

Summerfolk traditionally closes with many of the artists onstage performing Stan Rogers’s “The Mary Ellen Carter”. In 2007, Stan’s son, Nathan fronted the crew. (You’ll need to click twice on the video below to see it on YouTube.