The Mariposa Folk Festival was founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario

Orillia, Ontario

Orillia, pronounced ōrĭl'ēə, is a city located in Simcoe County in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe, 135 kilometres north of Toronto.Originally incorporated as a village in 1867, the history of...

. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 for a few decades, it returned to Orillia in 2000. Ruth Jones, her husband Dr. Crawford Jones, brother David Major and Pete McGarvey organized the first Mariposa Folk Festival in August 1961. The inaugural event, covered by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

, featured all Canadian performers. The first festival held in the Toronto area, in 1964, was at Maple Leaf Stadium. The subsequent three festivals were held at Innis Lake in Caledon

Caledon, Ontario

Caledon is a town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. In terms of land use, Caledon is somewhat urban, though it is primarily rural in nature...

 northwest of the city.

Festival timeline

The Mariposa Folk Festival has been held in these Ontario locations with these artistic directors:

• 1961 – 64, Oval Park, Orillia; Ted Schaefer.
• 1964, Maple Leaf Stadium
  Maple Leaf Stadium
  Maple Leaf Stadium was a baseball stadium in Toronto built in 1926 by Lol Solman for his Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team of the International League on the site of a stadium that had been built in 1907. It continued to be the home of the Leafs for 42 seasons, until the team left town following...
  
  , Toronto;
• 1965 – 67, Innis Lake, Caledon
  Caledon, Ontario
  Caledon is a town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. In terms of land use, Caledon is somewhat urban, though it is primarily rural in nature...
  
  ;
• 1968 – 79, Centre Island, Toronto;
• 1980 – 81, no festival
• 1982, Harbourfront
  Harbourfront
  Harbourfront is a neighbourhood on the northern shore of Lake Ontario within the downtown core of the city of Toronto, Canada. Part of the Toronto Waterfront, Harbourfront extends west from Yonge Street to Bathurst Street along Queen's Quay. East of Yonge to Parliament St...
  
  , Toronto;
• 1984 – 91, Molson Park, Barrie
  Barrie, Ontario
  Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, approximately 90 km north of Toronto. Although located in Simcoe County, the city is politically independent...
  
  ;
• 1991 – 2000, Ontario Place, Toronto;

Artistic directors:

• 1961, Ted Schaefer
• 1964 – 77, Estelle Klein
• 1978, Ken Whiteley
• 1979, Estelle Klein
• 1982, Tim Harrison
• 1984, Michael Cooney
• 1985, Ian Bell
  Ian Bell (musician)
  Ian Bell is a folk musician, composer, and singer-songwriter who has been active in the Canadian music scene since the 1970s. With Anne Lederman, he was part of the seminal Canadian folk group Muddy York. He has been the leader of The Dawnbreakers and Professor Chalaupka's Celebrated Singing School...
  
  
• 1986, Rick Bauer
  Rick Bauer
  Richard Edward Bauer is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who was last with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball...
  
  
• 1987 – 88, Drago Maleiner
• 1989, Richard Flohill

In addition, over the years there have been some alternative concerts and festivals, splinter groups, sub-festivals, and spin-offs.

50th anniversary

In 2010, Mariposa celebrated its 50th festival by fielding a lineup of classic Mariposa artists and young developing talent. Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...

, Murray McLauchlan

Murray McLauchlan

Murray McLauchlan, CM is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player.-Biography:Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, he emigrated to Canada with his family when he was five years old...

, Ian and Sylvia

Ian and Sylvia

Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959, married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975.-Early lives:...

 and The Whiteley Brothers took the main stage on the festival's final day. Three new performers passed an audition to perform via the "up and coming showcase" program. The 2010 edition also featured Jason Collett

Jason Collett

Jason Collett is a Toronto based singer-songwriter. He has released four solo albums, and is a member of Broken Social Scene. His latest album, Rat a Tat Tat, was released in March, 2010.-Early life:...

 and Serena Ryder

Serena Ryder

Serena Ryder is a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter raised in Millbrook, Ontario.Ranging musically between folk, roots, country, and adult contemporary music, Ryder possesses a five-octave range...

, who headlined the mainstage on Friday and Saturday respectively.

External links

• Official Mariposa Folk Festival Website
• National Library of Canada archives
• Mariposa '75 moving images
• Toronto Star article, 1987