Taking place June 27 at Terrasse St. Ambroise, situated right alongside the Lachine Canal, this all day event hosts many local and Quebec-based folk artists that are sure to please.

“It’s a small venue for acoustic music,” said 38-year-old Montreal West resident and organizer of the festival Carl Comeau. “There’s going to be no soft spots in the music. It’s going to be a nice blend.”

This year there will be many well-known Canadian acts performing such as East Coast singer-songwriter Joel Plaskett, as well as Montreal hip-hop folk performer Socalled and francophone artist Dany Placard.

“It’s really meant to be a discovery of the best we have to offer for folk music in Quebec,” Comeau said. “Weather permitting we have another great day planned.”

Last year’s event, which was the beginning of this annual folk festival, there were about 700 people in attendance, but Comeau sees that number easily doubling this time around.

“It was a great success last year,” he said. “It rained seven days before and six days after but the day of the folk festival it was beautiful.”

Comeau says one of the things that participants really appreciated about last year was the family atmosphere with entertainment and games for kids, so he thought it was something unique and worth replicating.

“One of the key things of this festival is that it’s very family-based. I have young kids and it’s hard for me to take them to the Jazz Festival,” he said. “Last year we had a concert for kids and this year we’re bringing it to the stage.”

To please attendees this year, Comeau plans to add more merchants and a better food selection, so that everyone will have a chance to relax and enjoy the best of what places like Burritoville and Ben & Jerry’s have to offer.

“We took notes last year. The one thing we had to make sure is when people come back they see progress,” he said. “At the end of the day, we had a lot of happy people that left the festival and kept in touch.”

Comeau admits that it’s always a gamble trying to host music-related events and concerts in Montreal, because of the competition and the date being so close to the start of the Jazz Festival. But this one worked out for him due to word of mouth advertising and a little help from friends.

“We had to compete last year with the Grand Prix,” he said. “There’s always going to be something. There are 60 shows every night in Montreal.”

As for hosting a music festival in a city with an international reputation for arts and culture, Comeau believes the best way to build a following is from the ground up, staying true to the folk genre.

“Start something small and put the best quality you can on stage,” he said. “And there’s no shortage of quality in Montreal. We have this gift of being an eclectic, diverse city with tons of musical talent.”

Expectations from both organizers and attendees are high this year, so now it’s up to everyone participating to determine whether the folk festival will reach its potential and possibly become a two or three day event.

“Pre-sales this year were fantastic. There’s that confidence now where they know the quality is going to be there,” he said. “Our reputation speaks for itself. We’ve been in the business for awhile.”

Festival Folk sur le canal takes place June 27, 2009 at Terrasse St. Ambroise and costs $30 for a day pass and is free for kids 12 years and under.

For more information on the festival and an idea of what artists will be playing, log on to: www.myspace.com