Acoustic Harvest and Winterfolk XVII Blues & Roots Festival are teaming up to present the Winterfolk XVII Preview and Benefit Concert on Saturday, Jan. 19 at St. Paul’s United Church, 200 McIntosh St., in Scarborough.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and the music starts at 8 p.m. and continues until 10 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the door for $25 or in advance for $22 at www.acousticharvest.ca.

The event is another one of Toronto’s Winterfolk XVII festival preview performances to showcase some of the musical talent Toronto has, and to show audiences what this year’s festival has to offer.

Ori Dagan

Ori Dagan will be appearing at the Winterfolk preview on Jan 18

Festival-goers have the chance to see a sneak preview of what will be shown at the 17thannual Winterfolk Blues and Roots Festival in February with many different performances.

Folks will also be able to purchase festival weekend (Feb. 22-24) wristbands for half price, only $10, at the Acoustic Harvest show.

Winterfolk was formed to entertain, educate, enlighten, engage, and encourage the community about various folk music styles including roots, blues, folk, and more that’s available in Toronto.

Founded by Festival Director Brian Gladstone, it is run as a division of The Association of Artists for a Better World, a registered non-profit organization in Ontario,  www.abetterworld.ca.

Acoustic Harvest is a huge supporter and presenter for the festival and continues its tradition of featuring the best, local, national, and international acoustics roots talent, all in a cozy setting that fosters the building of friendships, community spirit, and love of music and the arts. Hosted by Acoustic Harvest Artistic Director Lillian Wauthier, artists will perform two sets in the round on Jan. 19.

This includes Nova Scotian sisters, now based in Toronto, Cassie and Maggie with their own 21st Century stamp on the Celtic sound, www.cassieandmaggie.com. More traditional Celtic magic from father-daughter duo Alana & Leigh Cline, www.leighcline.com/alanaleigh.html, will also be presented.

New-on-the-scene, accordion-driven trio Shake the Bellows brings Celtic tunes, French waltzes, Cajun songs, and more, www.facebook.com/ShakeTheBellows.

Also, there will be Donné Roberts who performs mainly in Malagasy, his mother tongue from his birthplace of Madagascar, www.donneroberts.com.

On the Acoustic Harvest bill as well will be blues harpist and guitarist Ken Yoshioka, www.reverbnation.com/kenyoshioka, and award-winning jazz singer, songwriter, and recording artist Ori Dagan, www.oridagan.com.

For more information and updates on the upcoming Winterfolk XVII Blues & Roots Festival, please visit www.winterfolk.com.