The 2018 Folk on the Rocks festival will feature a lineup that not only includes female performers, but puts an emphasis on having both women and transgender artists play a leading role in the act.

SA国际影视传媒淎s a woman in the music industry I definitely feel underrepresented and I know a lot of artists that I work with feel the same way and so I think it was really important to us to sort of help increase that representation,SA国际影视传媒� said Carly Bradley, the festival's executive director.

SA国际影视传媒淥ur festival lineup has been pretty male heavy the last few years so we wanted to flip that around and bring back a little more gender balance to our festival.SA国际影视传媒�

Those female leads include both acts from within the territory and from Southern Canada. Popular local artist Tanya Tagaq will headline Warm the Rocks on Friday evening, before Whitehorse and Stars, both who feature female leads, will close out Saturday and Sunday Respectively.

Also on the bill are local female artists Andrea Bettger, Carmen Braden and YellowkniferSA国际影视传媒檚 own Avery Zingel.

Coming in town for the weekend include Abigail Lapell, The Courtneys and The Weather Station.

SA国际影视传媒淚 feel like there are so many incredibly talented women in the Canadian music industry as well as globally and I feel like I could've booked 60 or 70 amazing acts but of course we have time constraint and a budget,SA国际影视传媒� said Bradley.

The gender parity is one more way that the board of directors is looking to keep the festival exciting as it enters its 38th year of operations, said Bradley.

The board is always looking to keep the festival interesting to attract the best talent possible, especially in a year that saw two high-profile board members, Ryan Fequet and Andrew Livingstone, resign.

SA国际影视传媒淥f course we miss Ryan and Andrew a ton but both of them left on great terms, both of them will be here to party with us throughout the weekend. And they actually left at a pretty good time, a lot of the boards job is through the fall and winter and putting together that sort of overall vision of the festival and then I execute it at this time,SA国际影视传媒� said Bradley.

SA国际影视传媒淎s far as keeping southern artists wanting to come up, I think itSA国际影视传媒檚 a really unique opportunity, I think a lot of them view it that way and we also try to when theySA国际影视传媒檙e here to do some really special things that showcase the north and how beautiful it is.

Outside of the music, those attending the festival this year will see both familiar and new faces around the food and drink section. This year The Sweet Stop will feature the return of Taco in a Bag, mini donuts and Saffron Food Truck as well as newcomer Noodo Monster food truck and the beer garden will once again feature brews from Big Rock Brewery.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e still with big rock and this is our ninth year working them as a sponsor, theySA国际影视传媒檙e super good to us,SA国际影视传媒� said Bradley. SA国际影视传媒淭hen for food vendors we have 13 food vendors this year, some who have been coming for years, such as saffron and mini donuts SA国际影视传媒� and then we also have Noodo monster which is new, and it's going to be delicious.SA国际影视传媒�

Between the music and the food will be a number of artisan vendors and non-profits handing out information on the different causes happening around town.

SA国际影视传媒淲e have tons of artisan vendors this year, both returns and new people, so yeah some really exciting crafters,SA国际影视传媒� said Bradley. SA国际影视传媒淲e have creations back this year, they always do some really beautiful stuff and Rhiannon White, last year she did temporary tattoos especially designed for Folk, and sheSA国际影视传媒檚 bringing those back again.SA国际影视传媒�

In terms of the non-profits, this year Calgary Sexual Health and the Safety Squad will once again be on site to run safety orientations and bystander intervention training.

Bradley says that there will also be additional garbage and recycling bins placed in the forest beside the Folk site to ensure those that want to enjoy the outdoors, before they head in for the music, will have loads of opportunities to dispose of their trash. This comes a year after there was a dispute over whose responsibility it was to clean up the area after the festival was finished.

SA国际影视传媒淎lthough itSA国际影视传媒檚 not officially Folk on the Rocks property we do have some new dumpsters and recycling bins going out there this year so we're working really hard to encourage people to use those as opposed to just leaving their garbage out there when they're done having a good time out in the woods,SA国际影视传媒� said Bradley.