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Transportation: How Do I Get There?
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Park & Ride
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When Do the Gates Open?
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Entry
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How Can I Get a Wristband?
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What Should I Bring? What Should I Not Bring?
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When is the Music On?
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What On-site Services Are Provided? (Lost and Found)
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Do You Have a Special Need?
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How Can I Be a Good Neighbour?
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Where Can I Stay? Is There Camping?
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What else can I do in Edmonton & Alberta?
Transportation: How Do I Get There?
The festival is held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in beautiful downtown Gallagher Park (next to 97 Ave and 94 St) » MAP LINK
There are two gates for the festival; The Main Gate/North Gate (94th St and 97th Ave) and the South Gate/Top of the Hill Gate (Corner of Connors Road and Cloverdale Hill Road).
There is NO ON-SITE PARKING. Use Park & Ride or Edmonton Transit or bike down. Please do not park bikes in the park around Muttart Conservatory. Use our Bike lock-up located behind the Bennet Centre (93rd St and 97th Ave)
Bike Lock-up Hours of Service
Thursday 3:00 – 11:30PMFriday 3:00 PM – 1AM
Saturday 9 AM – 1 AM
Sunday 9 AM – 12 midnight.
NO supervised overnight parking, and no parking for motor bikes!
Volunteers: If you arrive for your shift before the gates are open or after the gates are closed, open the gate , lock your bike and close the gate. To claim your bike, show your volunteer badge, instead of a bike check ticket.
Park & Ride
Park and Ride: University of Alberta,
Park in any campus lot – special Folk Fest parking rate is $5 per day–tell attendant you are attending the Folk Festival. This special parking rate is only available one hour prior to the start of the park and ride.
Bus pick up – south east corner of the Butterdome (87 Ave and approx. 114 St).
Bus fare – ETS rates apply. Children 5 years and under are free. Cash fare only; ETS passes are valid for payment.
Please note: bus drivers do not carry change.
Buses run every 30 minutes during the Festival. Hours of operation are:
Thursday 3:30 – 11:30PM;
Friday 3:30PM – 1:00AM;
Saturday 8:30AM – 1:00AM;
Sunday 8:30AM – 11:30PM
Regular transit service: bus transit service goes right by the park in all directions. Call 780-496-1611 for information.
When Do the Gates Open?
Open 4:30 PM on Thursday & Friday and 9:30 AM Saturday & Sunday. Evening ticket holders can enter after 4:30 PM (Thurs-Sun). For this year only – evening tickets are good for the whole day.
There are two gates for the festival; The Main Gate/North Gate (94th St and 97th Ave) and the South Gate/Top of the Hill Gate (Corner of Connors Road and Cloverdale Hill Road).
When Can I Line Up?
To ensure fair, orderly line-ups that create minimal intrusion and noise in Cloverdale Community, there is a lottery for line-up position for those who wish to line up before the gates open.
Note: Lottery assembly area for North Gate for 2011: Location NW corner of Muttart Conservatory parking lot. 1000 tags at each gate. Times as follows.
How does it work?
2011 Gate Lottery Procedures (Please note: the gate lottery is not mandatory for all ticket holders – it is mostly used by those who have very strong tarp preferences.)
1. Arrive no earlier than 2pm on Thursday and Friday and 7am on Saturday and Sunday.
2. Thursday and Friday we will hand out the lottery tags at 2:30pm until they are all handed out, then do the draw at 3pm to line up the patrons first by colour/performer and then by number. There are 1000 tickets (25 different colour/performer tags numbered 1-40 for a total of 1000). They have a number, the date, the gate and a performers name from this year’s festival on them.
3. Saturday and Sunday we will hand out the lottery tags at 7:30am until they are all handed out, and then do the draw at 8am.
4. Patrons MUST have their festival ticket, wristband, proof of senior citizen status (government ID), or volunteer badge to receive a lottery tag. Once you receive your lottery tag, you will enter the ‘corral”. Once inside, you are free to trade with others. On all days, patrons must stay in the corral until the draw is completed. If they insist on leaving the corral they must hand in their lottery tag.
5. As a note, to keep it fair, the lottery tag draws are done a couple of months in advance then sealed in envelopes until they are opened for the lottery.
6. As we have shortened the time frame of lining people up you may not have time to leave the line up and come back. If you decide to do this you must be back at least one hour prior to gate opening. You are allowed one lottery tag for one person and one tarp only. If your friend has a different lottery tag they CANNOT go with you, they must wait until their colour/performer or until the end of the line has gone in.
7. Gate Crew, who have the wristbands, will be going down the line and exchanging your ticket for a wristband prior to gate opening. As well, on the Thursday night, the Program Crew will make their way down the line so that you can purchase your program early and get started planning which fantastic performances you will attend.
8. The gates open at 4:30pm on Thursday and Friday and 9:30am on Saturday and Sunday. When they open you must have your lottery tag to enter and you go in every 3 minutes or so in groups of 25 from each gate. Set up your tarps, mark your spot and HAVE FUN!!
Thank you for your cooperation!
Entry
Entrance Procession: Patrons will be escorted at a walking pace in groups of 25 from both North and South gates to the seating area. Gate volunteers will control entry to ensure everyone’s safety; there will be NO RUSH!
How Can I Get a Wristband?
Exchange your ticket for a wristband at the gates. Four-day pass holders can get one wristband for the whole weekend. This enables you to come and go from the site and is a requirement to verify you have purchased a ticket. Patrons who remove their wristband may be escorted from the Festival site.
Wristbands are not transferable and are invalidated if removed or tampered with.
What Should I Bring?
- Casual clothing AND rain gear
- Practical footwear
- Something to sit on–tarp, blanket or low-backed low-legged chair (legs 6 inches tall maximum; the back should be no more that 28inches off the ground.).
What Should I NOT Bring?
- High-backed, or regular-legged lawnchairs (short-backed, festival height chairs only)
- Pets
- Alcohol or drugs
- Glass containers (exception baby food and bottles)
- Video or audio recording equipment
Note: Bag check in effect: checking for alcohol, drugs or glass (baby food & bottles permitted).
When is the Music On?
Mainstage:
Thursday: 6 – 11 PM;
Friday 9 PM to 12:30 AM;(sessions run 6pm – 9pm on four stages)
Saturday 2-3 PM and 7 PM to 12:30 AM;
Sunday: 2-3 PM and 7 PM to 11 PM.
Sessions (workshop) stages will run on Friday from 6-9 PM and on Saturday from 11 AM-2 PM and 3-7 PM and on Sunday from 11 AM-2 PM and 3-7 PM.
How do I know what’s on when? The Mainstage line-up and sessions schedule are posted here. Program books will be available on site, with complete schedules, site map, performer bios and neat photos. You’ll want to keep your program book as a souvenir of your festival experience!
What On-site Services are Provided?
Bike lock-up, family area, food and beverage concessions, beer garden, crafts, recording and memorabilia sales, information tent, lost & found, first aid, telephone, washrooms, water & wash stands, recycling stations, environment tent, insta-bank. See Festival program book for complete information about services and site locations.
Post Festival: The Lost and Found takes a while to gather sort and record… please contact our offices at 780-429-1899 after Tuesday August 9th. Lost items will only be retained for a limited time.
Do You Have a Special Need?
The Folk Festival has a complete program to accommodate patrons with physical challenges. Handicapped parking is available just North of the Main Gate. This parking area is available on a first come first served basis and therefore not guaranteed. Access Crew volunteers will meet you at the North gate to assist. Please make sure to ask for Access volunteers.
Wheelchair access: Volunteers can assist your ability to move around the site and a special seating area at main stage is available.
Hearing impairment: Magnetic induction loops have been installed at all performance areas to enable hearing the music. Ask Access Crew or Information Tent volunteers for a loop receiver (or use your T-switch hearing aid) or for specific locations at each stage.
Visual impairment: Ask for Braille or large print Festival information at the Information Tent.
Be a Good Neighbour
This is a very friendly Festival where strangers respect each others’ needs during the Festival weekend.
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival plays host to 100, 000 patrons over four days. In order to ensure the best possible experience for everyone involved, please be aware of our good neighbor policies. This is a very friendly Festival where strangers respect each other’s needs during the Festival weekend – Please be courteous to everyone on the hill.
1. Use only the space you need and remember the side stages are for everyone
Tarps no bigger than 8 x 10 ft. There will be no tarps placed at side stages. These stages will be cleared of unattended tarps and chairs between workshop sessions.
2. Consider your neighbour’s view
Low chairs only; Please be aware of chair height limits. These WILL be strongly enforced in 2011 – so ensure that your chair is not too tall. No tents or lean-tos except at the top of the hill; stay seated or dance in designated areas.
3. Consider your neighbour’s listening experience
Please keep the chit-chat to a minimum when sitting on your tarps – most folks want to hear the music, not their neighboring tarp’s latest news. If you need to talk – including on your cell phone – please keep it quiet so others can enjoy the tunes, or better yet, move to the non-listening areas.
4. Smoking
Smoking is no longer permitted in any seated area of any stage (including Main Stage) or inside the beer garden. It is also not permitted in any line-up per City bylaw. There are plenty of areas to smoke on site, please consider the needs of non-smokers and smoke away from the “captive audience”.
5. Pitch in
Put your recyclables and garbage in appropriate bins provided; pinch and pocket cigarette butts. Help us keep Gallagher Park clean!
6. Be Safe
Use candle covers (available in the Music and Merch tent or from our friendly roving candle sellers)
7. Know Where Your Kids Are
Do not leave children unattended; keep your kids with you after sundown; direct lost kids to the Information Tent.
Where Can I Stay? Is There Camping?
Close by, Edmonton has many hotels within walking distance of the site downtown. Contact your travel agent or Edmonton Tourism at 1-800-463-4667 or (780) 496-8400. The Courtyard Marriott hotel has special rates for Folk Festival audience members (on a limited first come first serve basis).
There are also options to stay at the University of Alberta or Grant MacEwan University. Contact them directly for details.
Camping: There is no on-site camping but you can camp in Edmonton at the Rainbow Valley Campground, located in a beautiful spot beside Whitemud Creek, not far from the Festival site. For reservations, call 780-434-5531.
What else can I do in Edmonton & Alberta?
For information regarding other attractions in Edmonton and Alberta call Alberta Tourism at 1-800-661-8888. Also see Other Alberta Festivals.
