Founded in 1989 with a mission to present, preserve and promote folk music, the nonprofit Folk Alliance International strives to connect the many arms of a wide-ranging and at times hard-to-define genre. Held in a different North American city each year, its annual conference is the largest gathering of folk musicians and industry professionals in the world. The event brings together thousands of artists and their industry peers for five days of panels, performances and collaborations.
This year’s iteration, dubbed “Illuminate” as a nod to the northern lights, takes place in Montréal next Wednesday to Sunday, February 19 to 23, at Le Centre Sheraton Montréal. The event will feature more than 175 artists, from emerging newcomers to established and award-winning musicians. Highlights include Basia Bulat, Lady A, Mimi O’Bonsawin, Alex Wong and headliners Bella’s Bartok.
“It’s a showcasing conference,” Folk Alliance executive director Jennifer Roe said. “So it’s really about exposing yourself and showing off your music to booking agents, venue owners and labels. Fans are welcome, she added, “but the vast majority of the conference is about artist-to-artist networking.”
Roe considers making connections to be the most vital aspect of the conference.
“If you’re an artist out of Kansas City and want to tour in the Northeast, the best thing to do is connect with other folk musicians in the Northeast and vice versa,” she said. “We want folk musicians to help each other connect with audiences and venues in their own scenes.”
One of the local acts traveling north for the conference is Vermont-based roots trio the Faux Paws. The musicians have attended multiple conferences, both with their current band and as part of an earlier group, Great Bear. Vocalist and guitarist Andrew VanNorstrand said a highlight is the showcase performances. Unlike a festival where you’d hop from stage to stage, the majority of Folk Alliance performances happen in suites throughout the hotel.
“You sort of go room to room, with a different musician performing that you might or might not have heard before,” VanNorstrand said. “It’s such a cool experience.”
While VanNorstrand acknowledged the experience is “hardly similar to a music fest or show,” it’s a great way for him and his bandmates to feel connected to a larger musical world.
“I know a lot of bands say this, but our sound really is hard to define,” he said. “We don’t slot into a neat little label of Americana or indie folk or whatever — we like to move around, style-wise.”
The Faux Paws inject fiddle tunes with a proclivity for fiery jams. According to VanNorstrand, his band’s eclecticism fits perfectly under the vast canopy of the conference, which features performers working in every strain of folk from Appalachian to Zydeco — even fusion and hip-hop.
“One of the challenges we see is that some people, even in the music industry, don’t understand how all-encompassing folk music is,” Roe said. “Fans, venues, even music journalists, sometimes people might not realize they already love folk music. But they have this vision of what they think folk is, when in reality, at its root, folk music is the music of a people’s culture, whatever culture that is.”
The future of folk will be a big topic at the conference. Sessions include “Rights, Royalties, and Resilience: A Fireside Chat with Dan Navarro and Jamie Dominguez on Empowering Creators to Be Their Own CEO,” the Black American Music Summit, and a keynote conversation between Canadian singer-songwriter and activist Allison Russell and NPR music critic Ann Powers.
“It’s a way to check in on what’s going on with the industry as well,” VanNorstrand said. “I think it’s something of an understatement to say touring is not an easy process these days, nor is releasing music. It helps to hear what everyone else is doing or trying, what’s working or not.”
The conference kicks off on Wednesday night with the 2025 International Folk Music Awards. Notable honorees include the Indigo Girls, who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. A stacked Artist of the Year category features singer-songwriters Russell, Nick Lowe and Sarah Jarosz. In all, more than 2,000 showcase performances are expected over the event’s five days.
“The conference is a great opportunity to show how different generations can define their music,” Roe said. “Folk music is a document of cultures and how they share traditions throughout generations, and it’s beautiful to bring acts of all ages and walks of life together to learn from each other.”
Listening In
Playlist of Vermont jams
The 37th Folk Alliance International Conference, Wednesday, February 19, to Sunday, February 23, at Le Centre Sheraton Montréal. $275-675 USD. folk.org/conference
This article is part of a travel series on Québec. The province’s destination marketing organization, Alliance de l’industrie touristique du Québec, under the Bonjour Québec brand, is a financial underwriter of the project but has no influence over story selection or content. Find the complete series plus travel tips at sevendaysvt.com/quebec.
The original print version of this article was headlined “State of the Art | The 37th annual Folk Alliance International Conference comes to Montréal”
This article appears in Love & Marriage Issue 2025.
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