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John Arcand Fiddle Fest
Past Year Reports
2007 Report
Please click here to view the complete 2007 Final Report (pdf)
2006 report
THE 9TH ANNUAL JOHN ARCAND FIDDLE FEST WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!
The 9th annual John Arcand Fiddle Fest continued its path of exponential growth and success with an almost overwhelming response to an extra day of workshops and entertainment programming.
The weather was downright wonky with a mixture of torrential downpours, raging winds, and beautiful sunshine, but Mother Nature’s moodiness didn’t seem to deter festival goers in any way, shape or form.
With a variety of concerts and dances packing the house, and a fiddles & flapjacks breakfast bright and early on Sunday that drew a record 187 people, the 9th Annual John Arcand Fiddle Fest is a complete and total success. “Our attendance went from 2170 over three days in 2005 to 3730 over four days in 2006. That’s about 72% more people! “There were times when we wondered where we would put everyone and how we could possibly look after their needs, but they are a great bunch of people and everyone took the challenges resulting from our growth in stride. They support us every way that they can, including being patient in line ups for food and washrooms or cuddling their chairs closer to their neighbors to make room for more people. We will start the job of preparing for an even larger festival in 2007 immediately, which will also mark our 10th anniversary. We have an interesting road ahead as we find the ways to grow our resources to meet this incredible demand.”
Participation in Thursday’s roster of fiddle workshops and an evening concert – both new offerings this year – was phenomenal, with 293 registrations for workshops and an audience of over 500 for the evening concert. Saturday’s workshop numbers exploded with 590 registrations in fiddle, Red River Jigging, guitar, and piano. Of the 883 registrations for workshops this year, 307 were by youth 12 and under. To put that growth in perspective, in the year 2005, we had 252 workshop registrations and in 2004, there were 108.
Saturday and Sunday featured competitions with 54 fiddlers (a Fiddle Fest Record !) competing in the sanctioned fiddle contest and 30 Jiggers taking part in the Canadian Red River Jigging Championships.
>>> For a list of contest winners click here
The 10th Annual John Arcand Fiddle Fest will take place August 9-12, 2007.
2005 Report
The 8th Annual John Arcand Fiddle Fest was a tremendous success. With a rough estimate of the people admitted free - 2170 people enjoyed three days of workshops, concerts, dances, and competitions. Lots of old friendships were re-visited and new friendships were formed. We had spectators and participants from Washington State, North Dakota, South Carolina - and a young fellow all the way from Crystal Falls, Michigan to take workshops and compete.
There was a notable increase in participants and spectators from B.C. this year, and of course, Manitoba, Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan were all well represented. All of this brought us to one competitor short of breaking the record of 53 fiddlers in the Fiddle Contest and we set our own personal record with 40 jiggers competing in the Canadian Red River Jigging Championships.
The workshops on Friday had notable increases. In the Fiddle workshops 106 - 41 youth, 53 adults and 11 seniors. (compared to 54 in 2004) In the Red River Jigging workshops 105 - 36 youth, 59 adults and 10 seniors (compared to 30 in 2004). The Piano workshops had 24 - 1 youth, 21 adults and 2 seniors (compared to 13 in 2004). And, the Guitar workshops had 18 - 3 youth, 7 adults and 8 seniors (compared to 11 in 2004).
It's great to see those numbers increase and really awesome to see the youth numbers so high in the fiddle and jigging.
The Friday Night Concert Showcase brought 4 hours of talent blended with culture in an incredible lineup of entertainment.
- 12 year old fiddling sensation Taressa Bergen from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- A great vocal performance by Leann Hynd of Milden, Saskatchewan
- An unbelievable cultural experience was enjoyed by all when Silje (16) and Hogne (12) Midtbo-Vevle from Norway gave a performance on the Hardanger fiddles that got a well deserved standing ovation.
- A wonderful warm bluegrass set from Saskatoon's own - Vic's Livingroom Bluegrass Group followed next.
- 13 year old Alex Lamoureux from Ontario showed off his Métis background, with an incredible fiddling performance.
- 10 year old Clayton Linthicum from Glentworth, Saskatchewan - sang, played guitar and banjo and got another well deserved standing ovation.
- And, we wrapped up the evening with a fun and lively performance by "Alex" the folk band from Ontario.
The John Arcand and Friends Concert Saturday night was attended by over 900 people and the combined talents of John Arcand, Calvin Vollrath, Patti Kusturok, Desmond Lagace and the amazing backup of Freddie Pelletier and Trent Bruner, brought the house down, with encores and standing ovations. The Saturday Night Old Time Dance with Bannock Country - filled with new and larger dance floor and people were swinging their partners til just about 2 a.m.!!!
Sunday morning's Gospel Hour again featured Alex the Folk Band and was very well attended. And, so the planning begins for the 9th Annual John Arcand Fiddle Fest which will be held August 11th, 12th and 13th 2006 - See you there!!!!
Winners took home a total of $10, 460.00
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