By Will McGuirk
Although the mission statement for the Mariposa Folk Festival speaks to the preservation of folk art in Canada this Grand Dame of festivals is no museum, but rather more akin to an art gallery.
To preserve is to know, and to know is to continue to investigate and research, and one can do such a thing through showcases, which is why when one attends Mariposa one gets the past yes but also the future of folk in Canada, and, broadly, as folk knows no borders, the Americas and the rest of the world.
This year is no different. The 62nd edition of Mariposa takes place in Tudhope Park, Orillia, July 7-9. Although to be fair this year will be different. One could usually anticipate an appearance by festival co-founder Gordon Lightfoot; one would see him sit in the audience or stroll the grounds or hang backstage with friends new and old. However his passing earlier this month will mean there will be an absence felt. But the songs remain, and that is the tradition of folk, the songs, the art, the craft, the dance; a community’s identity handed down over the years hand to hand to hand. As long as the songs are alive so too is Lightfoot, as is Ian Tyson and Leonard Cohen and Stan Rogers and all those others who have graced the stage at Mariposa.
Judy Collins, who by way of her covers bought audiences to Cohen and Joni Mitchell, performs on Sunday evening on the main stage, on a night which features festival closer, Feist, as well as Rufus Wainwright whose latest album Folkocrasy is its own showcase of covers and collaborations, and also Jeremy Dutcher, a member of Tobique First Nation, whose debut album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, drew from the songs and stories of the Wolastoqiyik, whose territories stretched from Quebec, to New Brunswick, and into Maine USA.
“It’s crucial for us to make sure that we’re using our language and passing it on to the next generation. If you lose the language, you’re not just losing words; you’re losing an entire way of seeing and experiencing the world from a distinctly indigenous perspective.” - Jeremy Dutcher