Songs of Sail Festival – Penetanguishene

The Songs of Sail Festival in Penetanguishene was a music festival that ran from the ’80s and ’90s that featured such names as Gordon Bok,  John Archbold, Caroline Parry, Mary Knickle, Rick Bauer, Al Parrish, James Gordon and others.  As with many defunct festivals, little documentation is publicly available about its origins, the years it ran, the performers that were featured, etc.  A sampling of references appear here and there on Facebook and other places, which will be referenced here as they are located.

“Songs of Sail Marine Heritage Folk Festival, Penetanguishene, Ontario, Aug. 23-25: Although you can count on the occasional water-logged folkie to dredge up the Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald, this wide-ranging tribute focuses on 19th-century sailing songs, sea-chantey singing, fisheries’ protest songs and musical accounts of dashed hopes and deep-water disasters. The town is perched on the shore of Georgian Bay.” — Tom Clynes, Tampa Bay Times 12 May 1996.

A 1997 reference indicates that this festival changed its name about this time to the “Bayside Folk Festival”, running Aug 22-24, 1997.  The reference indicates that the theme of the event segued into more of a folk event than a maritime themed event, featuring Bill Gallaher & Harmony Road, Finest Kind, Sweet Tyme, Tanglefoot, Enoch Kent, and Tranby Croft.  A 2026 Facebook reference indicates that The Bayside Summer Soirée may have succeeded the Bayside Folk Festival, in a much more modest format.