The project is supported through funding from Tree Canada’s Community Tree Grants program and includes the removal of invasive Buckthorn species. Buckthorn spreads rapidly, disrupts native plant communities, and reduces biodiversity within naturalized areas. In its place, native tree species will be planted to improve ecological resilience and support the long-term health of the park. 

“This partnership between Sustainable Orillia, the City of Orillia, and the Mariposa Folk Festival shows what’s possible when community groups work together for the environment,” said Danny Epstein, Vice President of Sustainable Orillia. “With the support of funding from Tree Canada, we can replace invasive buckthorn with native species that will strengthen biodiversity, improve the health of Tudhope Park, and create a lasting natural legacy for future generations to enjoy.”

“As Mariposa has created a lasting legacy for generations so too has Tudhope Park. Mariposa is excited to partner with Sustainable Orillia and Tree Canada to do its part in restoring the park to its former beauty for all to enjoy for generations to come.” said Mariposa president Pam Carter. 

Project Timeline: 

• Buckthorn Removal: September 13, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Tree Planting Day: September 20, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

“The City of Orillia is pleased to support this community-led initiative to restore natural areas within J.B. Tudhope Memorial Park,” said Mayor Don McIsaac. “This initiative ensures the park continues to thrive for wildlife and as a vibrant place for our residents to enjoy for generations to come.”

The project will be led by Sustainable Orillia, with the Mariposa Folk Festival assisting in volunteer coordination and event logistics. The City of Orillia is contributing in-kind services to help facilitate site preparation and grant implementation. 

How to Volunteer:

Residents can register to participate in one or both events by completing the volunteer sign-up form. 

Residents can also request a native tree for planting on private property.

For additional information regarding this project, visit: sustainableorillia.ca.

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Both exhibitions are slated to open to the public on June 14, 2025.

Gordon Lightfoot: Turning Back The Pages

OMAH is proud to announce the launch of a permanent exhibition dedicated to one of Canada’s most celebrated singer-songwriters, Gordon Lightfoot. Gordon Lightfoot: Turning Back The Pages will invite visitors to explore the life, legacy, and enduring impact of the legendary musician.

 Born and raised in Orillia, Lightfoot’s influence on Canadian music and culture is unparalleled. With a career spanning over 60 years and a catalogue of more than 250 songs, his storytelling has resonated with audiences worldwide. His music—deeply personal and often reflective of the Canadian landscape—has been recorded by iconic artists including Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan. At a time when many musicians sought success in the United States, Lightfoot remained steadfast in his Canadian identity, proving that an artist’s greatest inspiration can be found at home.

Curated by Hannah Arndt, OMAH’s History Programming Coordinator, Turning Back The Pages will take visitors on a journey through Lightfoot’s career, showcasing rare artifacts, memorabilia, and personal items that highlight his deep connection to Orillia and the broader cultural landscape. 

“Gordon Lightfoot’s impact on Canadian music is immeasurable, and his roots in Orillia are a vital part of his story,” says Arndt. “This exhibition is a tribute to his remarkable legacy, and we are thrilled to create a space where his influence can be celebrated for generations to come.” 

The development of this exhibition was made possible through generous donations, demonstrating the profound respect and admiration fans across North America have for our hometown legend.

Voices Through Time: A Mariposa Journey

The Voices Through Time: A Mariposa Journey exhibition will take place on the 2^nd floor at OMAH, running from June 14^th to September 13th. The exhibition celebrates the 65-year history of the Mariposa Folk Festival, with beautiful photographs from the past and present, as well as interactive elements capturing some unforgettable Mariposa moments. Mariposa Folk Festival president Pam Carter said, “The exhibition perfectly captures the magic of Mariposa. You won’t want to miss it!”.

For 65 years, Mariposa Folk Festival has been a gathering place where music, culture, and community intertwine. Voices Through Time: A Mariposa Journey invites you to step into this rich history through the eyes of two photographers, each capturing a distinct era of the festival’s legacy.

Edwin Gailits, attending in the 1970s, documented Mariposa in striking black and white, preserving its raw energy and intimate moments. His images reveal a festival deeply rooted in folk traditions, where artists and audiences connected in a shared love of storytelling and song. The grain of his film captures the authenticity and spirit of a movement that shaped Canada’s folk music scene.

In contrast, Deb Halbot’s contemporary photography immerses us in the Mariposa of today—vivid, dynamic, and filled with colour. Her work highlights the festival’s evolution while celebrating the same passion that has defined it for decades. From joyful performances to the vibrant crowd, her images reflect a festival that continues to grow, embrace diversity, and inspire new generations.

Alongside these visual narratives, an interactive installation brings to life defining stories from Mariposa’s past. These stories—of legendary performances, turning points, and unforgettable moments—invite you to engage with the voices and experiences that have shaped the festival’s journey.

Through photography and storytelling, Voices Through Time honours Mariposa’s enduring magic, celebrating the past while looking toward the future. This is more than an exhibition—it is an invitation to experience the heart and soul of Mariposa.

Voices Through Time is curated by Terry Lau and the team at Beehive Design, long-time creative partners of Mariposa Folk Festival. “From the moment I began collaborating with the Mariposa Folk Festival, there was a sense of familiarity—like I’d found a creative home. Working alongside Edwin and Deb has been a true privilege, their passion for capturing Mariposa’s spirit deeply inspiring. Curating Voices Through Time for the festival’s 65th anniversary feels like a full-circle moment. It’s both a meaningful opportunity and a profound responsibility to help tell Mariposa’s story—one shaped by music, memory, and a community that continues to grow and evolve with every passing year,” said Lau.

Mariposa would like to acknowledge the investment by Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund for making this exhibition possible, as well the generous support from Orillia Museum of Art and History and Orillia’s Lake Country and More Life Pilates.

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Work will include the installation of a concrete slab that will help facilitate the usage of staging equipment for the Mariposa Folk Festival. This concrete slab will also double as three new pickleball courts that can be used throughout the spring and summer months.

“Through our partnership with Mariposa Folk Foundation and through grant funding, the City is able to make these improvements to J.B. Tudhope Memorial Park that will not only provide flex space for festivals and events, such as the Mariposa Folk Foundation who will use the space as a performance area during their annual festival, but will also provide additional outdoor pickleball courts for our community,” said Mayor Steve Clarke.

Construction is anticipated to be complete this December. During construction, park amenities and the trail will remain open.

The festival staging area will be linked to an improved roads system so that event vehicles can access the area for the delivery of the stage along with the required sound and video screen systems, improving the efficiency of setup and teardown of the festival while protecting park amenities.

The festival stage construction project was identified as part of the J.B. Tudhope Memorial Design Plan Update that the City completed in partnership with the Mariposa Folk Foundation to identify several park enhancements. Adding the pickleball courts will provide additional usage of this area for the community.

The project was approved by Council in March 2022 and also includes public Wi-Fi installation at Barnfield Point Recreation Centre. The total project budget is $805,000 with $10,000 in-kind from the Mariposa Folk Foundation and more than $600,000 received in grant funding.

For questions about the pickleball courts and festival stage project, please contact the Manager of Park Planning and Development in the Development Services and Engineering Department at 705-325-2060 or jmcmullen@orillia.ca.

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The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) is pleased to announce the Induction of singer-songwriter Murray McLauchlan, composer of more than 35 hit singles including the SOCAN Classics “Farmer’s Song”, “Down by the Henry Moore” and “Try Walkin’ Away”. Marking its first in-person songwriter induction ceremony since the pandemic, the CSHF is partnering with Mariposa Folk Festival to recognize McLauchlan on Saturday, July 9 on the festival’s main stage.

Since 2018, the CSHF began partnering with music events and festivals across the country to connect with fans and celebrate the songs and songwriters to their musical roots. McLauchlan will be officially inducted at Mariposa by long-time friend and CSHF Inductee Gordon Lightfoot and honoured with a special tribute performance by Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.

“I am honoured to join my respected friends Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, and so many others in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame,” says McLauchlan.

Murray McLauchlan was born in Scotland and raised in Toronto where he studied art and began singing in coffeehouses at age 17. He frequented Yorkville’s The Riverboat, a hub for the folk-rock music scene in the 70s where fellow singer-songwriters Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, and other Canadian icons would play – that was also a favourite tour stop for American artists including Simon and Garfunkel and folksinger Tom Rush.

McLauchlan would play his bittersweet compositions “Old Man’s Song” and “Child’s Song” on the backsteps of The Riverboat for Tom Rush, who became the first artist to record one of McLauchlan’s insightful songs. “Child’s Song” was recorded by Tom Rush in 1970 and would later garner McLauchlan three JUNO Awards for Folk Single, Country Single and Songwriter of the Year.

In 1971, McLauchlan signed with True North Records and recorded his debut album Song from the Street that reached Top 40 in Canada. His first Top 10 single came from “The Farmer’s Song“ which drew attention to the industrial forces decimating family farms, while earning him his first JUNO Awards for Best Songwriter, Folk Single and Country Single. His follow up album Sweeping the Spotlight Away earned him a JUNO for Best Country Vocalist; and his homage to Toronto, “Down by the Henry Moore”, became his first No. 1 hit to cross over on both pop and country charts.

McLauchlan’s first gold record came with the 1976 album Boulevard, which included the hit single “On the Boulevard“. Through the 1980s, McLauchlan enjoyed further success with hit singles like “Do You Dream of Being Somebody?”, “Somebody’s Long Lonely Night”, “Little Dreamer” and “Never Did Like That Train”. He rounded out the decade with the anthem “If the Wind Could Blow My Troubles Away”, participation in “Tears Are Not Enough” and his JUNO-nominated album Swingin’ on a Star.

His most recent endeavors include his 2012 hit albums Human Writes and Love Can’t Tell Time and 2021’s Hourglass, which has made numerous Top 10 lists in Canada, the U.S. and throughout the world. He was won 11 JUNO Awards throughout his esteemed career and is among the Top 20 most-winning JUNO artists of all time.

McLauchlan’s songwriting, whether in his earlier narrative style or his later impressionistic one, has definite grassroots appeal. And the visual sense he developed while studying art as a youth still inspires his songwriting: “I always try to write visually, to put someone into their context,” he explains.

His love for songwriting and art came together in 2021’s “A Thomson Day”, a tribute to the work of Group of Seven painter Tom Thomson that resulted in a collaboration with the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Recently, “Child’s Song” was featured in the hit NBC TV show This Is Us and Widespread Panic recorded a hit rock cover of McLauchlan’s dark ode “Honky Red”. Others to cover McLauchlan’s work over the decades include Bonnie Dobson, John McDermott, Renée Claude, David Wiffen, George Hamilton IV, Waylon Jennings, Kathy Mattea, David Bromberg, The Ennis Sisters, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, R. Harlan Smith, Walter Ostanek, Bob Neuwirth, 3’s a Crowd, Melanie Safka, and Junkhouse.

McLauchlan will be honoured by the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame at the 2022 Mariposa Folk Festival on Saturday, July 9. The Mariposa Folk Festival takes place July 8 to 10 in J.D. Tudhope Memorial Park in Orillia. Tickets are available at mariposafolk.com.

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