Among the longest-running music festivals in the country, Mariposa Folk Festival will be celebrating its landmark 65th anniversary this year when it returns to Orillia's Tudhope Park from July 4 through 6. Folk music typically denotes something made by the everyman, passing down whatever wisdom gleaned from this thing we call life to their fellow everyman, by whatever means they can.
More than anything, though, it's the emphasis on storytelling at the core that keeps the fruits of this tradition feeling timeless. Fittingly, auteurs both familiar and new will grace the Mariposa stage this year, as generation-spanning crowds gather to be reminded of the commonalities that bring us all together.
Below, you'll find five must-see acts for the 2025 edition. Mariposa Folk Festival tickets are on sale now.
Bess Atwell
It's a pretty significant thing that when, amidst the Taylor Swifts and the Ed Sheerans of it all, the National's Aaron Dessner wants to produce your album. This was the case for UK singer-songwriter Bess Atwell's third record, Light Sleeper — and the results were truly spellbinding, with the sweep and swell of the artist's folk songs elevated to towering new heights.
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Receiving a rare 10 out of 10 from Exclaim!, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's 2021 album, Theory of Ice, was more than just a collection of songs; it was a form-shattering amalgamation of her work as a writer across varying disciplines — including academia, fiction and poetry — that reckoned with the dire reality of the planet, but powerfully saw a better way forward.
The Free Label
These Exclaim! New Faves alumni are perhaps one of the least "folk" acts on the bill, which is exactly what makes them an unmissable burst of energetic sunshine to break up all of the creeping tempos and devastating singer-songwriter lyricism. Performing tracks from last year's debut Songs for Sienna LP and beyond, the funky six-piece Toronto boy band's love of '70s disco will get folks of all ages on their feet.
The Paper Kites
While "Bloom" from their 2013 EP is still the band's most-streamed song on Spotify, for some of us, the Paper Kites' 2015 full-length, twelvefour, remains an incredibly significant comfort album. Since then, they've continued to release beautifully sprawling songs that move like neon through cycles of delicate acoustics and bluesy Americana.
Waxahatchee
The 2024 Exclaim! cover star added another indie classic to the canon last year with the unforgettable Tigers Blood, which wrapped its multilayered narratives in rhythms that feel as comfortable coursing through your veins as the perfect worn-in pair of blue jeans. Getting to experience a massive festival crowd sing along to "Right Back to It" seems like a core memory in the making.