Where do I buy tickets?

Three-time Polaris Music Prize finalist and five-time JUNO Award nominee Basia Bulat kicks off Peterborough Folk Festival 2025! Join us for this concert at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre on Thursday, August 14th. The festival’s 2025 Emerging Artist, Jeanne Truax, opens the evening, Tickets are available on the Market Hall website here: https://tickets.markethall.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=487

Peterborough Folk Festival will bring a club crawl to downtown venues including The Pig’s Ear on Friday, August 15th.

There are no tickets for the weekend of August 16th & 17th at Nicholls Oval Park. The outdoor festival is free-admission, with donations encouraged and appreciated. A suggested donation of $25 per person will help to offset festival costs. You can donate at the festival to the friendly volunteers in yellow T-shirts, or anytime (with instant tax receipts for donations of $25 and up) via our Donate page here. Thank you!

How Do I Get to the Festival?

Excellent Choice #1: Walk or Bike on the Rotary Trail!

Peterborough Folk Festival is right on the Rotary Greenway Trail. We want you to walk or ride your bike!

You can walk or ride north on the Rotary Greenway Trail from Hunter Street East next to Ashburnham Ale House, or from the London Street Footbridge across the Otonabee River. Or you can walk or ride south from Parkhill Road, just east of the Otonabee River bridge.

Thanks to our friends with B!KE Community Bike Shop, valet bicycle parking is available next to the Rotary Trail at the bottom of the hill. Their friendly volunteers will park your bike and give you a ticket to pick it up later.

The B!KE valet parking is open Saturday, August 17 from 11am to 10pm, and Sunday, August 18 from 11am to 7:30pm. No bikes left outside these hours please!

Excellent Choice #2: Take Y Drive!

PFF is proud to partner with Y Drive to keep your festival weekend moving safely and smoothly.

Enjoy $3 off any Y Drive ride to an official festival location throughout the event weekend!

Download the app and register today at onelink.to/y-drive

Proudly Canadian. Family-Owned. Community-Focused

If you need to drive:

On-site festival parking at Nicholls Oval Park is limited. We share the park with Peterborough Rugby Club, who often have playoff games on the Saturday of the festival. Overflow parking may be available on side streets. Accessible parking spots will be available for people with special needs.

If you must drive, please carpool to reduce the number of vehicles on site, allow ample time for parking, drive v-e-r-y carefully, be courteous to the friendly parking volunteers, and respect the signs so that emergency vehicles can get through if necessary.

The City of Peterborough will provide temporary signage for some accessible parking spots to access the Rotary Trail at the end of Dufferin and Hazlitt streets. From there, people can proceed along the Rotary Trail to the lower level of Nicholls Oval Park.

Can I bring my dog?

Well-behaved dogs on leash are allowed at Nicholls Oval Park.

Please be respectful of people who may not be as comfortable around dogs.

Can I camp at the festival?

There is no on-site camping at Nicholls Oval Park.

There may be camping available nearby at Beavermead Campground, if they have campsites available. Their website is here: Beavermead Campground – Otonabee Region Conservation Authority

Is drinking water available?

Yes! But not in plastic bottles. The Peterborough Utilities Group Mobile Water Station will be on site near the Food Village. Please bring your reusable water bottle, which you can refill from the Mobile Water Station.

We will also have cool PFF water bottles available for purchase at the Merchandise Booth.

Is an ATM available?

Yes! We have a handy ATM located centrally on site in case you need cash for the Food Village vendors, Artisan Village vendors, Cameron's Pavilion, Merchandise Booth and/or donations to the friendly Bucket Brigade volunteers in the yellow T-shirts.

Is the festival accessible for people with special needs?

If you’re driving to 725 Armour Road, please let our friendly parking volunteers know and they will guide you to accessible parking spaces.

Nicholls Oval Park has accessible washrooms. We will supplement those with nearby accessible washrooms and hand-washing stations during the festival.

The hilltop area of the festival with its Food Village, Artisan Village, Children’s Village, Cameron’s Pavilion, Generation Solar Stage and Merchandise Booth is relatively level but bumpy. We’ll have an accessible viewing area on the hilltop for viewing Main Stage performances. The hillside that overlooks the Main Stage is not accessible due to its slope.

Portable washrooms will be provided near the permanent Nicholls Oval Park washrooms and in the lower festival area next to the Rotary Trail.

What if it rains at the festival?

Peterborough Folk Festival is a rain or shine event! If there is light rain, the festival would continue as planned with minor adjustments. Any heavy rain may require careful further adjustments to the schedule, and some performances on the Miskin Law Main Stage may be shifted to the Nicholls Oval Pavilion Stage. In the event of lightning in the area or winds above a safe threshold, the live music performances would be shut down until the lightning passes or winds ease, and festival goers would be advised to proceed to the covered pavilion or their vehicles.

What food is available in the Food Village?

Tasty local options available in the Food Village include: Curry Mantra; Island Cream; Kettle Corn Canada; La Mesita; Milk + Tea; Mr.& Mrs. Pierogi; OtonaBEE Apiary; RUSSS RUSSS; Souvlaki Stop; The Favourite Greek; and The Vine. See our Vendors page for more.

Who is in the Artisan Village?

Take the time to visit our Artisan Village with its 40+ local artisan vendors of beautiful hand-made creations and local community groups! See our Vendors page for more.

Reusable dishes and cutlery?

Yes! The festival has purchased reusable dishes and cutlery, which our friendly EcoTeam volunteers wash and provide clean to vendors in the Food Village. This initiative dramatically reduces the waste produced at the festival.

After enjoying your meal in the Food Village, please return your dishes to the EcoStation (pictured above) where our volunteers will wash them and return them clean to food vendors. Thank you!

Nice! How else do you reduce environmental impacts?

PFF encourages festival-goers to walk, bike or take the free shuttle - or as a last choice, car-pool.

PFF partners with B!KE Community Bike Shop to offer free valet bike parking beside the Rotary Trail.

PFF partners with Generation Solar to provide clean electricity to power the Generation Solar Stage.

PFF arranges the PUG Mobile Water Station to provide free drinking water, and prohibits bottled water sales.

PFF volunteers return Nicholls Oval Park to its clean and beautiful state after the festival.

We even loan our EcoTeam dishwashing station to other festivals to help them reduce their impacts!

See our Environmental Sustainability Initiatives page for more info.

What if I have other questions?

Before the festival, feel free to submit a question via our Contact page.

If you have any questions or concerns at the festival, please speak with an Ambassador (identified by an orange T-shirt or vest) or stop by the Information Booth, centrally located near the Nicholls Oval Pavilion and Merchandise Booth.