The fifth annual Whoop and Hollar Folk Festival's released its 2017 performers line-up, and five out of nine are from the Portage la Prairie area.

Co-organizer Josh Wright's happy, noting it shows the diversity of talent in this region.

"A lot people go to Winnipeg, or other places, to see great music," he says, "When a lot can be found right here in our home town, and that's the exciting part. So, over half our line-up is local talent, and that's something we've never quite done before, to that degree."

Wright was asked if that means the festival's moving in a new direction, and says that's a fair statement.

"We're trying something new, in that we're showcasing lesser-known acts", he says, "Other years, we've had bigger acts coming, but what our festival wants to showcase the musicians who are lesser-known and still have a lot to offer. And they're diverse at the same time, these bands, and they're kind of Manitoba's best-kept secrets, and that's what we want to bring to the table."

Co-organizer Linda Omichinski points out they've moved the festival to September 9th, to avoid conflicting with the Potato Festival.

"And September's an advantage to us. People are back from holidays, and it gives them the last time to whoop it up. And so I think the positioning is favourable for us. We've been giving surveys out, and we listen to what our festival-goers are telling us, and they're telling us that didn't want it Friday, they wanted it on Saturday, and they wanted us to start earlier."

Omichinski says they'll start at 3:30 in the afternoon.

The 2017 line-up's here.