The third annual Kingsville Folk Festival is expected to be more worldly than previous editions.
Portuguese and Latin acts are being added and Cree singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie headlines the festival.
Organizers John and Michele Law expect more dancing this year.
"We have all kinds," says John. "There's the singer-songwriter folk musicians, but there's also up and dancing and horn sections, just a lot of grooving this year."
Portuguese Fado singer Tony Gouveia, Cuban-Canadian Latin Grammy winner Alex Cuba and Mexican-Canadian Juno Award winner Quique Escamilla will all hit the stage in Kingsville in August.
"Latin grooves that are going to get your hips moving," says Michele.
She feels adding new acts from different ethnic backgrounds helps the festival better reflect the region.
"We look around and we live in an incredibly ethnically diverse region of Ontario so we thought, 'Let's capitalize on that and let's embrace that,'" says Michele.
John feels the new acts should help continue the festival's growing reputation.
"I think we're known now as a national folk music festival in Canada. Last year we were nominated for Ontario Tourism Event of the Year, so that was huge for a second-year festival ," says John. "It just keeps growing. Things are going wonderful."
The non-profit event is expected to have 250 volunteers helping out and money raised is meant to support music arts for youth in Essex County.
The festival runs August 12-14 at Lakeside Park in Kingsville.
For more on the festival, click here.
