The Jasper Folk Music Festival is back on track.

After the Sept 9-10 festival was postponed by a town-wide power outage earlier this month, organizers are excited to announced that the Jasper Folk Music Festival (JFMF) will be taking the stage after all in Jasper’s Commemoration Park on October 1 for an all-day music bonanza.

Two Covid-caused cancelations in 2020 and 2021 had organizers and community members alike relishing the thought of finally being able to enjoy the local festival, but on September 6, organizers announced the festival’s cancelation due to the community’s uncertain power situation.

“We are exploring all options for a postponement,” said Cristin Murphy, the JFMF’s executive director, at the time.

Those efforts have been successful. The Jasper Folk Music Festival was able to hold onto its long-booked headliners, The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer as well as Reuben and the Dark.

“It’s a pretty heavy-duty lineup,” Murphy said.

Other acts include a nine-piece New Orleans-style brass outfit, The Brasstactis, the finger-picking authentic blues of David Essig, the Kainai-Bloodtribe’s Bullhorn singers and Juno award-winner and family-favourite, Peter Puffin. The Misery Mountain Boys are slotted to host an AfterDark party at the Jasper Legion.

Local acts Sons & Daughter, Warrior Women, Willy Saunders, Gui Benoit and Marie & Friends will round out the line-up.

The festival will kick off with a parade on Saturday, October 1 at 10:30 a.m. at Jasper’s White Rock, in the parking lot just east of the Connaught Drive and Hazel Avenue intersection. The parade will follow the Jasper Discovery Trail to the festival site.

“Hopefully during the parade we will be bringing people along with us,” Murphy said.

Festival foodies will love that the Las Tres Marias food truck will be on site, as well as local vendors Coco’s Cafe and Bear’s Paw Bakery.

Other festival amenities include bouncy castles, fire pits and a beer garden.

After three years of delays from pandemics and power outages, and after getting a taste of locals’ longing for live music at a recent unplugged, impromptu concert in Centennial Park, Murphy and the festival’s volunteer board members are looking forward to finally bringing a festival atmosphere back to Jasper’s natural amphitheatre.

“Jasper needs something exciting,” she said. “We hope it will be a great time for Jasperites and visitors as well.”

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com