Kingsville Folk Festival

We finally made it to the Kingsville Folk Music Festival, held every summer at beautiful Lakeside Park on the shores of Lake Erie. There were four stages scattered throughout the park, offering continuous music from a variety of genres over three days.

The sprawling park afforded some great shade opportunities within earshot of the various stages, great for those of us who need to shun the sun and therefore tend to skip outdoor festivals in summer.

Food was good, including our friends Total Meltdown and their gourmet grilled cheese and other sandwiches.

Local beverages were also featured, including brewery The Grove, Pelee Winery and Wolfhead distillery. Bottled water was not even sold on site, as guests were encouraged to bring refillable bottles and use the OCWA water station.

We chose the Sunday lineup specifically to see The Milk Carton Kids, who were every bit as incredible as anticipated. There may be no better guitar player around than flat-picker Kenneth Pattengale, and the vocal harmonies between the two are stunning. Check them out on Youtube!

We were also exposed to lots of other great local artists, including among many Annie Sumi from Guelph, The Pairs from London, Brendan Scott Friel from Windsor, storyteller Gurf Morlix, Toronto's Union Duke, and Bluegrass band Traditionally Wound.

From further afield we heard Erika Kulnys from the East Coast, while the Gabriel Palatchi Band brought some crazy Latin jazz piano from South America, and Low Lily imported some folk from Vermont.

Perfect weather and a peaceful crowd rounded out a wonderful day of music!

Windsor's Brendan Scott Friel entertains at the Creekside Stage

Gurf Morlix on the Main Stage

Sound check for the Milk Carton Kids

Union Duke from Toronto

Low Lily from Brattleboro, Vermont

Beautiful sunset over the Folk Festival

The Milk Carton kids!

Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan work their magic