By Will McGuirk
Does home have a sound? Well if your home is Oshawa I think so, if your home is Hamilton then Daniel Lanois thinks so - he calls it the Simcoe Sound. I call Oshawa’s sonic footprint Black Grass. Orillia calls its home sounds Mariposa and its a sound heard around the world.
The 2026 Mariposa Folk Festival lineup just announced speaks to that fact. The list of performers is stacked with folks and folkies from across the globe, across age, gender, genre, its a wide open gathering calling all home.
So who then - well the enigmatic Father John Misty, Sharon Van Etten, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band, Billy Bragg, Steve Earle, and thats just the boldface.
Also the legendary Sarah Harmer, and Justin Rutledge, (his ‘Devil on a Bench in Stanley Park’ album remains a fave go to), Dan Mangan, Great Lake Swimmers, Reuben and the Bullhorn Singers; each one of them could easily headline but no the Grand Dame of Folk Fests is taking front and centre on the international stage this time out.
But also Adam Baldwin, the Barr Brothers, Yukon Blonde, Devin Cuddy, Mo Kenny, and speaking of the sound of home, Shwarock alumni Chuck Coles is on the bill too.
I don’t know how one even does this. Normally one would have a list and start whittling away, this looks like one had a list and it was but what if we added. . . fantastic, a truly grand line-up and one where each artist has their own recognizable sound, their home sound, and pooled now along the shores of Lake Couchiching in Tudhope Park in the town of Orillia July 3, 4 and 5 2026! . Lets go home folks, lets go home. As Sarah Harmer sings ‘Just Get Here’.