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Go backstage and hear the stories behind the Mariposa Folk Festival

The festival's artistic director will be the featured speaker on Saturday at Simcoe County Historical Association meeting in Barrie
2019-03-18 Mariposa history book cover

NEWS RELEASE
SIMCOE COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
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Michael Hill has experienced the Mariposa Folk Festival from many angles and he's ready to share the inside scoop on the grand lady of Canadian folk festivals.

The Simcoe County Historical Association offers the festival's former artistic director as this month's speaker Saturday, March 23.

As a boy growing up in Orillia, Hill earned pocket change scooping up discarded beer bottles around the festival.

Later, he was inspired to try his hand at folk by the musicians he saw when the festival was at the Toronto Islands.

When it returned to its Orillia birthplace in 2000, he jumped at the chance to volunteer, climbing the ranks to serve as artistic director from 2006 to 2017.

Hill is keeping his hand in through sitting on the festival's board of directors, but he's turned his years of insider insight into a book covering the festival's extensive history and the colourful parade of artists its hosted. He features the lean and lush years, revealing his interactions with performers ranging from Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen to Buffy Ste. Marie and Jann Arden and the festival's sometimes-rocky relationship with Orillia.

Hill will reveal stories from The Mariposa Folk Festival: A History in a multi-media presentation at 2 p.m., March 23 at Grace United Church, 350 Grove St. E. in Barrie.

There will also be a brief annual general meeting with refreshments. Non-members are welcome by freewill donation. Please RSVP at membership@simcoecountyhistory.ca.

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