Manitoba Live Music Event

About

Each year, the Winnipeg Folk Festival presents the Stingray Young Performers Program during the festival weekend showcasing young talent from across Canada, the US and abroad. The program hosts up to 35 multi-talented musicians aged 14 to 24 and offers mentorship and workshopping opportunities with festival performers who will share a wealth of knowledge about the industry, in addition to technical skills and songwriting tips. The participants will then showcase what they learned on Shady Grove stage in front of a festival audience.

We aim to nurture musicians in the community and provides career stepping stones so they may one day lend their voices to inspire a younger generation. The popular program started in 2000 and sees hundreds of applicants each year. A jury of industry professionals selects 35 to 40 promising young musicians annually. Young artists use the program as a springboard to launch their careers and many have gone on to play the festival as part of the main lineup; artists such as the Crooked Brothers, Del Barber, Sweet Alibi, Daniel Champagne and Brandy Zdan. 

 Participants spend their first day in sessions with mentors chosen from the festival’s lineup, crafting and perfecting their songs and the second day performing on stage in front of a Folk Fest audience.

The mentors for the 2017 Stingray Young Performers Program are... JD Edwards (The Small Glories), Cara Luft (The Small Glories), Joey Landreth, Aoife O'Donovan and Chris Luedecke (Old Man Luedecke)!