REVIEW: Gen Z Embraces Country at CityFolk Festival
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY ELLA ASSELSTINE ☆
Photos by Edie Olender
COWBOY HATS, FLANNELS AND BELL-BOTTOMS—CityFolk Festival 2026 attracted an enthusiastic cross-section of country music fans from across Canada’s capital. The autumn festival returned to Ottawa for its 32nd year, delivering a five-day musical celebration with an eclectic lineup of performers—from the Sex Pistols to Of Monsters and Men, from Alice Cooper to Alabama Shakes. It was a truly diverse festival, with punk fans who came of age in the 1970s rubbing shoulders with Millennial devotees of Americana. But the genre that really stood out at this edition of the festival was Country, which line-danced its way into the spotlight on the second day.
Many in the crowd that night opted for a decidedly western dress code, accentuating their flannel and denim with a cold Canadian beer and a calming joint or two. It was a truly immersive Canadian country festival experience, the smell of pot drifting over the scene as the sun set and the growing crowd of festival goers headed to the food trucks to grab a poutine or BeaverTail before the headliners hit the stage. Those who weren’t indulging in these oh-so-Canadian treats could be found browsing the vintage clothing market across the field, checking out leather boots, studded belts and Dolly Parton-themed graphic t-shirts—there was even a bucket of hobby horses on display. There was something for every kind of shopper. While the brave gravitated to a mobile flash-tattoo truck, other ticket holders grabbed a seat at an English-style pop-up bar.
As the sun set, fans crowded the main stage, many holding handmade posters and wearing t-shirts that paid homage to country-pop sensations Stella Lefty and Cameron Whitcomb. A group of fans even handed out paper hearts for the crowd to hold up during Whitcomb’s set. In the leadup to his performance, up-and-coming singer-songwriter Stella Lefty (of the TikTok viral summer 2026 “Boston”) was a hit with a younger crowd that included kids and their parents out on a school night.
Beyond the main acts, a number of lesser-known artists—Montréal dream-pop’s Fine Food Market, Toronto contemporary folk performer Sam Drysdale, The White Buffalo (stage name of American folk musician Jake Smith) and Kingston indie-folk trio the Codas—attracted new fans earlier in the evening.
As darkness fell, the fairy lights strung across the festival were switched on. Those not intent on being as close as possible to the stage set up chairs and blankets to watch the performance from afar, cozying up to beat the September chill. Luckily, all that leather and denim—and the fiery main-stage performances—kept everyone warm.
