Folk on the Rocks has always been about giving people a chance to listen to live music, but there's even more to this year's edition.
Teresa Horosko has been with the festival since 2019, but this is her first year working as the executive director. She said the 2024 event is offering more chances to get involved as both an audience member and artist.
"It's 'Folk on the Rocks and Music NWT presents best practices for self-releasing music,' so it's a panel discussion featuring some industry leaders," explained Horosko.
That panel discussion is scheduled to happen on July 19, the Friday afternoon before most of the music gets started, she added.
"Artists can come and speak about those best practices about how to get their music out there, and I think that's a really interesting thing."
There's also a free performance happening at 12:15 p.m. at Somba K'e Civic Plaza, Horosko added. The panel convenes after that, at 1:30 p.m.
It's the first time Folk on the Rocks has hosted this panel discussion, said Horosko. She said the concept came from audience feedback.
"That's something our audiences asked for. We often do participation surveys at the end of the festival SA国际影视传媒� and we have a really great, working relationship with Music NWT SA国际影视传媒� and there was an opportunity to offer some more engagement for our local artists. It just felt like the right time."
There's plenty happening this year's festival that avid fans have come to expect, including a wide range of artists, both returnees to the event and newcomers.
For years, Horosko has looked forward to the same highlight.
"Every year, on the Sunday night, at the end of the night, when the Yellowknives Dene Drummers are performing a closing ceremony, I stand at the top of hill and I have a little cry" said Horosko. "It's so beautiful watching everybody come together and feeling the energy of that space. It's such a beautiful culmination of the event and to see that we did it and everybody's so happy and we get to celebrate with each other once again."
