In 1970 there was one folk festival that counted- Mariposa. By the end of the decade there were a dozen with more popping up every year- Winnipeg, Sudbury, Owen Sound, Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina… The folk festivals acted as transmission belts to a mass audience for artists from diverse regions of the country. An artist could arrive unknown and leave a major concert attraction. The festivals created social milieus around them, which attracted many souls who would go on to other creative endeavors. They became more than simple musical events, embodying as they did, a certain dissident, counter-cultural spirit.