READ THE FOLLOWING at About 8 MINUTES BEFORE THE HOUR, BETWEEN ARTISTS DURING SET UP.

WHEN THE ARTIST IS SET UP AND READY TO GO, THEN INTRODUCE THE ARTIST / AND READ THEIR BIO.

MC SCRIPT

Good afternoon/evening. Welcome to the 12th Annual Winterfolk Festival, where three days of blues and roots music will be presented to folks of all ages, in the Danforth/Broadview area. Twelve Years! Isn’t that amazing?! <Applause>

There are five active stages at four venues. They are: 2nd floor at the Black Swan, main floor at the Black Swan, The Globe Bistro upstairs lounge, Dora Keogh Irish Pub and Terri O’s Sports Bar.

For the enjoyment of everyone, we ask that talking and noise be kept to a minimum while the artists are performing. Sets start at the top of the hour and run for 45 minutes. There will be breaks between sets, at about 15 minutes before the hour.

The stages are all free, except for four ticketed events, which will all be presented upstairs at the Black Swan.
(omit any of the following events that have already happened)
1) A Special Valentine’s Day Event LOVE AT WINTERFOLK on Friday evening. Nice and a bit naughty describes what’s in store for this special Toronto valentine’s day event. Ladies, be prepared to be serenaded at your table and plied with valentine’s cheer. A drink designed especially for this night at Winterfolk is called the WF Kocktail Kiss.
8:00 HOTCHA!
9:00 Ginger St. James Band
10:00 Random Order
11:00 Swamperella
$12.00 at the door
2) Songwriters Series on Saturday afternoon, 1:00-2:30 pm: The Story Behind The Songs and Where They Came From, hosted by Shawna Caspi with Grainne, Peter Verity, Glen Hornblast
2:30-4:00 pm: Master Songwriting Workshop three of Canada’s top songwriters play tunes and reveal the magic in their Songwriting process. With Lynn Miles, Brent Titcomb, Ron Hynes. $12 at the door.

3) Winterfolk Roots and Blues on Saturday evening
8:00 pm: David Bradstreet
9:00 pm: Lynn Miles
10:00 pm: Ron Hynes
11:00 pm: Jack de Keyzer starts off with a rare acoustic set, then is joined by his band. $15.00 at the door
4) Honouring Our Own on Sunday evening, 7 pm to 10 pm., in partnership with Winterfolk, celebrates Tony Quarrington, a powerful songwriter with a bluesy voice and a literary flair, who has long been a fixture in the Toronto music scene. Hosted by Andy Frank – With Jaymz Bee, Brent Titcomb, Joe Hall, Zoey Adams, Margaret Stowe, Soozi Schlanger, Noah Zacharin, Laura Fernandez, Don Francks, Brian Gladstone, Howard Gladstone, Fergus Marsh, Stuart Laughton, Denis Keldie and more! $15.00 at the door

The Winterfolk buttons <hold up button> are available at the entrance to all the clubs for a voluntary donation to the Winterfolk Festival. We are suggesting $10.00, but you can pay whatever amount you are able, and you can proudly wear the button to show that you are a supporter of Winterfolk and of live music. It has the Winterfolk logo and says, “I support roots music in Toronto”. Proceeds go to the performers.

Festival programs are available at all the clubs. If there are any changes, they will be posted in the clubs before showtime.

There is a merchandise table downstairs at the Black Swan, just as you go in the front door. For the whole festival, CDs of all the artists will be available for sale there. If you like the music at Winterfolk, you can take it home with you. You can show your support by purchasing artists’ CDs.

If you have any questions, please ask one of the Winterfolk volunteers. They are wearing the Winterfolk “Volunteer” buttons. This festival would not be possible without the support of many, many volunteers. Thanks to the volunteers. <Applause>

We would also like to thank all of the funding agencies and sponsors that make Winterfolk possible – The Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage, FACTOR, with the financial support of Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters, The Trillium Foundation, The SOCAN Foundation, The Toronto Arts Council, Long & McQuade Musical Instruments, all of the participating venues, and media sponsors, JAZZ FM, and Toronto Community News.

In addition, of course, thanks to all of you for coming out and supporting Winterfolk. <more applause>

(Read detailed information about the performers)