Volunteers help conduct the festival each year, filling roles including food and drink service, venue security, and construction of the event stages.

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival has hosted musicians from six continents, including acts from Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Mongolia, China, India, and Tuva.

lang, Joni Mitchell, Blue Rodeo, Stan Rogers, Great Big Sea, Oysterband, Loreena McKennitt, Norah Jones, Steve Earle, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, David Gray, Neko Case, Van Morrison, David Byrne, Michael Franti, Hanggai, K'Naan, and Passenger.

At its earliest beginnings in the 1980s, beloved Canadian artists Sylvia Tyson, Connie Kaldor and Stan Rogers were considered, "nucleus of the first Edmonton Folk Music Festival.”[5] Each year, the festival showcases local Edmonton performers, from youth to young adults to seasoned performers.

The first edition of the festival was organized as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of Alberta, and was held in Gold Bar Park, moving to its current venue in 1981.