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Here are the performers headlining the 2023 Edmonton Folk Music Festival

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Edmonton Folk Music Festival unveiled on Wednesday a lineup headlined by banjo and fiddle masters Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves, Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha, Old Crow Medicine Show and genre-mixing Ben Harper.

In total, about half of the lineup's performers will be climbing the stage at Gallagher Park for the first time, forming what organizers called "a healthy balance" of new and returning acts.

DakhaBrakha will open the festival's main stage Thursday evening, followed by the folk duo known as Watchouse and Canadian singer-songwriter Leslie Feist.

Among the newcomers is Fleet Foxes, an indie folk band from Seattle, who will take the main stage Friday night.

Both Old Crow Medicine Show and Harper, who will close the main stage on Saturday and Sunday, are among the performers who have played in Gallagher Park before.

Also on the lineup are well-known Canadian artists Amos Garrett and Tami Neilson; Montreal rockers Half Moon Run; QUITAPENAS, the group known for its tropical Afro-Latin vibes; country music's Margo Price; and The Teskey Brothers from Melbourne.

"Last year set a pretty high standard coming back. I'll be happy to match it – and I think we have," festival producer Terry Wickham told reporters during a news conference on Wednesday.

The full lineup is available online. Tickets go on sale on June 3 at 10 a.m. at the same price as last year.

Wickham said the 2022 festival came together surprisingly smoothly – including the festival's all-site liquor licence – after a three-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There was always that feeling of, 'Oh, is it going to come back? Is the shoe going to drop?'" he recalled.

"But I think last year was a pretty normal festival. And it ran really well. I was really, really pleased with the volunteers, given that they hadn't done it in three years. I was really really happy with the logistics and how it all worked.

"Because it's 2,500 people who come together once a year, so you never know what's going to happen. But we're more confident this year – put it that way." 

The Edmonton Folk Fest runs Aug. 10 to 13. 

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