Winterfolk 2023 wrapped up in Toronto yesterday. Brian Gladstone’s Annual folk-stravaganza re-situated itself into Kensington Market for the first time this year, with an aggregate of trad, rad and late-by-a-tad performances involving over a hundred artists and bands.
Over seven stages, audiences in impressive numbers climbed sidewalk snow-drifts to share in the warmth of songs and stories that revived the communal spirit of folk culture that had been flickering in online obscurity over the past few years. Moments of moving intimacy (from David Essig with a new book of stories based on his songs and the sweet melancholy of Glen Hornblast) to inspired rambunctuosity ( Kevin Breit strolling through the audience in the absence of a working microphone and David Laronde’s cross-species communication techniques ) coalesced into some heartfelt feelings of gratitude and amazement as the weekend unwound.
Roots Music Canada’s own Paul Corby was there to take it in and took a pile of photos for us. He was desperately in need of sleep so we didn’t ask him to write us a big review. But here’s what the festival looked like!
