2026 Mariposa Day Two

July 5, 2026July 5, 2026 Sunonline/Orillia Mariposa Folk

By John Swartz

Two things of significance happened Saturday at the Mariposa Folk Festival. A legend performed on the main stage, and a pub set went to epic proportions according to the clock and the number of performers on the stage.

Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band had a set which needed to be experienced in full. There have been very few performances over the 26 years the festival has happened at Tudhope Park where it was determined there would be no bugging out to go to the other stage to catch whoever was also playing.

It’s because, to my mind, Taj Mahal is one of those musicians who has been on the radar for almost the entirety of my existence, and at 84 years old, who knows if another opportunity to see him perform will ever come again.

The band is made up of killer musicians. In particular the playing by the woman belting out sax solos was as good as it gets.

Mahal was wheeled out to the stage and his percussionist helped him out of the chair to dance/shuffle the rest of the way to his chair (throne) at center stage. Once situated it was like he was holding court. He is one of the happiest people I’ve seen when performing, and that mood infuses his playing. I’ve said many times the Blues is really a happy genre. The lyrics and musical notes are a celebration of life, even though on paper the subject matter may not be perceived as happy. It’s kind of like late night comedians making fun of political circumstances; you need a way to find the humour in order to cope with the absurdity. The same applies to the Blues; yes bad things happen, but the art is finding a way to use that to amplify the good and joy of surviving the bad.

There is no doubt he was enjoying and having fun playing for the crowd. It’s like he has a talent to play music, picks a song he loves to play, and then thinks, “I love it, and I’m going to make sure you love it too.”

It’s also the case where knowing the songs is not necessary for them to make an impression, you just remember the way the performance of the songs made you feel.

**JD Crosstown and Aaron Goldstein performing the Neil Young 80th birthday concert at Mariposa**

Earlier in the evening, the travelling version of Aaron Goldstein’s Neil Yong 80^th birthday concert played the longest set, at one hour and 45 minutes, to happen in the pub tent.

The entire fenced in area was packed with people young and old, but mostly old. There were a couple of teenage girls in front of the stage who were singing along with some of the tunes and I wanted to ask them how they knew the tunes since those were hits decades before they started breathing.

That’s the thing about Young’s music, it touches many different types of people. Goldstein occupied center stage playing pedal steel, acoustic and electric guitars. There were two bands, one stage right (playing mostly the rockers) and one stage left (playing the slower, more mellow tunes). The stage left band was essentially the band Red Hill Valleys.

Having two bands made the dead space between tunes as short as needed for the next singer to plug in because the other band was ready to go.

**Thompson and Tom Wilson during the Neil Young 80th Birthday concert at Mariposa**

There was a steady stream of guest singers. The list is not complete, but JD Crosstown, Sarah Harmer, Ocie Elliott, Chuck Coles, Kelly McMichael, Wax Mannequin, Dan Mangan and Sharon Van Etten, Justin Rutledge all took turns and all were also marquee names on the 2026 poster. Then there was the turn Tom and Thompson Wilson took. they were not scheduled festival performers, but came to Orillia just to play one song. Of all those who came to the stage, Tom and Thomas riled up the audience the most for what was expected to come next. Clearly the audience was excited they were taking the stage. I think Tom is becoming one of those musicians people get excited about being here as they were for Gord when he just showed up.

There was one other outstanding moment when Kelly McMichael sang Ohio. The song Young wrote as a response to the Kent State massacre and recorded by Crosby Still, Nash and Young, resonated with everyone in the audience. At moments the sound people singing along was distinguishable from the sound coming off the stage. It was one of those electric moments that will live rent free in memory for a long while.

The depth of the music Young wrote is such a conglomerate of musicians performed so many famous tunes, and yet I can think of 8 radio staples they didn’t do. I’ve seen standing ovations at the pub tent, but this one was maybe the most spontaneous and loudest at the show’s conclusion

Sunday’s schedule includes a 6:30 p.m. tribute to the Tragically Hip performed by people you know – Nixon Boyd, Taylor Knox, Steve Henry, and Mike Vandyke. Closing out the festival in the pub is the Lemon Bucket Orchestra. On the main stage Reuben and The Bullhorn Singers, Steve Earle and The Free Label are performing.