Serena Ryder and Lorde at Ottawa Folk Festival

Photographs by Ming Wu.

Canadian super star Serena Ryder and international phenom Lorde performed at the second day of the Ottawa Folk Festival . Thousands rushed the main stage to see New Zealand born Ella Yelich-O’Connor perform hits from album Pure Heroine. What’s cool about Lorde is that she openly embraces being a so-called freak. And many can relate with her. She had on her dark robe for the majority of the performance which added to her mystique. But it was also pretty chilly. All in all, as a headliner, she definitely was one of the biggest names at Ottawa Folk this year.

This made it a bit difficult for Serena Ryder as it was clear that some festival-goers were ready to leave after Lorde‘s set. This didn’t stop Serena from delivering a passionate performance with her big hits “Stompa” and “What Wouldn’t I do”. It’s clear that festival organizers wanted to have a Canadian as one of the main acts, and it was interesting to see how they created the lineup. It’s great to see big international names willing to open for Canadians don’t get us wrong. It only helps establish more validity to the beautiful Canadian music scene.