Last weekend's Whoop and Hollar Folk Festival was held at a new time of year - September - but that's not all that was new.

A couple of acts in the line-up had never been part of the festival before. One was Thin Connections, a newly-formed band of teens that's been together since the spring. They were invited to play in the Red Barn sight-unseen by festival organizers, and singer Storm Otto from Gladstone tells us how she felt after the performance.

"I'm still shaking," she says, "It was excitement, and I'm glad it's done, but at the same time, I kind of want to do more."

Storm Otto

Joseph McEwingPercussionist Joseph McEwing shares his reaction.

"I found I wasn't as nervous before the performance," he says,"I think we could go pretty far, if we put our minds to it."

Bassist Andrew Stangl had this reaction after their set.

Andrew Stangl

"Holy moly, we just did a professional gig, pretty much," he exclaims, "I want try and go as far as we can, (with) our names known all over the world."

Lead guitarist Devon Borody's glad they pulled it off, noting they organized one song the night before. She's no stranger to performing publicly, in athletics and skating, but says this was different.

Devon Borody

"I was actually a little bit more nervous than I thought I was going to be," she says, "I'm not sure why."

Meanwhile, Andrew Chiponski became the first hip hop artist featured at the festival. He's known as Slick Chip, and calls being the first of the genre at the festival humbling.

Andrew Chiponski (photo courtesy Dennis Wiens)"I just felt very honoured that I could present that style of music to a lot of different people," he says,"Who've probably never heard what hip hop is, what rap is, and it was just a really fun experience."

Festival Co-chair Josh Wright says doing this is important for the festival.

Josh Wright

"What we like to do at Whoop and Hollar is create an atmosphere where young performers, emerging performers, can come and showcase what they have to offer. Simply because it's not easy for everyone to have a venue."

Wright adds festival organizers see doing something like this in the future.

"What we want to do with the Red Barn is continue to showcase emerging performers," he says, "To give young musicians a chance to play in front of an audience, to get that experience at an early age, in an open and accepting environment."

Slick Chip (Andrew Chiponski) photo courtesy Dennis Wiens

The Red Barn venue