Ede Ulfert Staal (2 August 1941, Warffum - 22 July 1986, Delfzijl) was a Dutch singer-songwriter from the province of Groningen who wrote and performed almost exclusively in the Gronings dialect. A former English teacher, he found his audience in the early 1980s when regional broadcaster Radio Noord picked up his song 'Mien toentje'. His intimate, melancholic portraits of the Groningen countryside earned him a lasting cult following - over 700,000 copies of his recordings have been sold - and he is often called the 'Jacques Brel of Groningen'.
On 19 September 2026, the Ede Staal Music Festival takes place in Leens, with the special feature of the premiere of the RTV Noord documentary 'Fatherland, in the footsteps of Ede Staal' about his son Jasper.
On the occasion of his 40th anniversary of death, all carillonneurs in the province of Groningen played songs by Ede Staal on the carillons from 11 to 16 August, as an initiative of the Stichting Klokkenspel Groningen.
On 22 July 2026, the 40th anniversary of Ede Staal's death was commemorated; RTV Noord dedicated a special theme page to his legacy.
The experience centre 'Ede Staal: My Groningen - Mien Grunnen' at Borg Verhildersum in Leens was expanded in 2025 with the life story of Ede Staal based on all the houses where he lived with his family; the exhibition was compiled by his son Jasper Staal.
