Summer Sounds: Vancouver Folk Music Festival Spotlight

Venue: šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn

SUMMER SOUNDS: FREE OPEN-AIR CONCERTS

Vancouver Folk Music Festival Spotlight - Thursday July 17, 2025 from 5:00-7:30pm

VCT is thrilled to give Vancouverites a sneak peek of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival (VFMF) lineup for free! Don't miss this unique opportunity to experience two world-class VFMF performances before they hit festival stages from July 18-20.

Virtuosic guitar duo Derek Gripper & Guy Buttery (South Africa) will transport audiences from Africa to India and beyond with their breathtaking musical inventions. Experience the music of rising star Emily Wurramara (Australia), a Warnindhilyagwa artist and activist whose soulful vocals, powerful storytelling, and captivating performances earned her a history-making 2024 ARIA Award. Mixing blues, indie folk, and ethereal R&B influences, Wurramara represents a new wave of Indigenous Australian musicians who are reclaiming their language and culture. 

Derek Gripper with Guy Buttery

South Africa's Derek Gripper & Guy Buttery both play the guitar, but their collaborations are unlike any guitar duo that you’ve ever heard. Gripper has uniquely mastered the art of playing in the manner of the 21-string West African instrument, the kora. He travelled in India adapting Carnatic music to the guitar and then found inspiration in the complex syncopations of West African kora music. Having collaborated with well-known kora players, classic kora compositions are now a regular part of his dazzling repertoire. Buttery is primarily known as a guitar player but is also an extraordinary multi-instrumentalist who has been lauded internationally for his insatiable appetite for experimenting with new sounds and instruments, underpinning his work’s global appeal. Gripper and Buttery are longtime friends and musical collaborators who bring the wealth of many cultures to their musical inventions – their spell-binding performance is sure to take you around the world!

Emily Wurrarrmara

Warnindhilyagwa artist, activist, and songwriter Emily Wurramara is part of a new wave of Indigenous Australian blues and roots musicians who are reclaiming their language and culture and presenting it to the world. Writing and singing in both English & Anindilyakwa language, her music mixes Pacific-blues, neo-soul, and indie folk with her expressive voice, and ethereal R&B-inspired songs. Wurramara is the first Indigenous woman to win Best Adult Contemporary Album at the ARIA Awards in 2024 for her poignant second album NARA. Meaning “nothing” in Anindilyakwa, it references a devastating house fire in which she lost everything. The collection of songs are a deeply personal exploration of identity, resilience, and self-realization to ultimately overcome hardship. Since her debut Black Smoke EP (2016) and acclaimed album Milyakburra (2018), Emily has captivated audiences with her storytelling, amplifying Indigenous voices and narratives, and has become an advocate for mental health, youth empowerment, and environmental justice.

About Vancouver Folk Music Festival

The Vancouver Folk Music Festival is back this summer and it’s bigger, bolder, and more joyful than ever. From July 18 to 20, music lovers will gather at the city’s most stunning waterfront location, ʔəy̓alməxʷ Jericho Beach Park, for a full weekend of world-class performances, food, art, and community.

Festivalgoers can expect everything from the soulful traditions of Tanzania’s Zawose Queens and the electrifying Congolese collective Les Mamans du Congo x Rrobin, to the genre-bending sounds of Cris Derksen, a celebrated Indigenous cellist and composer. Highlights also include Bab L’ Bluz, a Franco-Moroccan psychedelic Gnawa rock band, Australia’s Emily Wurramara, whose music celebrates her Indigenous heritage of Anindilyakwa, and Canadian favourites like Elisapie, Jane Siberry, and Julian Taylor. Whether you’re dancing to a psychedelic Gnawa groove, harmonizing with an Indigenous cello-driven ballad, or swaying barefoot to a Maritime folk song, this year’s festival delivers the soundtrack to summer.

Learn more and buy tickets at thefestival.bc.ca

ABOUT VCT PRESENTS: Summer on šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn

Vancouver Civic Theatres is excited to present Summer on šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn, a series of FREE outdoor events taking place in July and August 2025 at 650 Hamilton Street! 

Summer Sounds FREE Open-Air Concerts - Thursdays July 10-August 14 at 5:00pm to 7:30pm

Dance Dance Dance FREE Pop-Up Dance Classes - Fridays July 18-August 15 at 6:30pm to 9:30pm

Sunset Cinema FREE Outdoor Movie Screenings - Every Wednesday in August at dusk