Tickets for this year’s Idlewild Musicfest on Saturday, August 21st, are now available and selling fast.  Why all the excitement?  It has a lot to do with the appearance of Canadian folk icon, Valdy.

Who is Valdy and why all the buzz?  Valdy (born Paul Valdemar Horsdal on September, 1st, 1945 in Ottawa, Ontario is a Canadian folk musician icon whose solo career began in the early 1970s. He is known for "Rock and Roll Song", his first mainstream single released in mid-1972 on A & M Records

Valdy is the winner of two Juno Awards for Folk Singer of the Year and Folk Entertainer of the Year, and has received seven additional Juno nominations. His fourteen albums have achieved sales of nearly half a million copies, four of which are certified gold. Of Canadian folk artists in the mid-1970s, only Gordon Lightfoot was more popular. Valdy has a strong fan base in the Kootenays and it has been a number of years since he has played on a performance stage in the region.

Valdy also appeared on the CBC TV show The Beachcombers as the environmental activist "Halibut" Stu. Valdy lives on Saltspring Island in British Columbia with his wife Kathleen. His daughter, Chelah Horsdal, is an actress.

Award-winning artist Aspen Switzer of Nelson will be returning for an encore performance at Idlewild this year. Aspen’s voice stops you in your tracks. It is powerful, subtle, pure and haunting, filled with longing, and an ethereal yet grounded quality. She has a clear sense of who she is.

The audience will also relax to the music of Cranbrook’s own redGirl, which consists of Michael and Anie Hepher, Sven Heyde as well as Steve Jones, all formerly of As the Crow Flies. They’ll bring their distinctive and charming Kootenay roots musical style. Cranbrook’s old time favourites band, Old Spice will warm up the crowd starting at 3:30 p.m. Heather Gemmell, another popular local performer, will also be playing at the concert.

The gates at Idlewild Park will open at 2:30 p.m. and music will start at 3:30 p.m. There will be food concessions, vendors, lots of fun and entertainment for the whole family. Tickets to the Idlewild Musicfest are only $20 per person (under 13 free by donation) and the proceeds go towards supporting the Cranbrook Public Library’s efforts to enhance their book collection and develop more inviting green spaces around the library.

Tickets are available at Lotus Books, Pages Used Books, the Cranbrook Public Library and the Kimberley Public Library. For more information about the Idlewild Musicfest call the Cranbrook Public Library at 250-426-4063.