With a mandate steeped in youth and carrying on traditions, the 14th Annual John Arcand Fiddle Fest held August 11th to the 14th - ended on high note, more than doubling the 12 and under attendance and as a result having the largest Novice Fiddle Class ever! Together with a definite increase in workshop numbers, the future of fiddling is in good hands.

Overall the 14th Annual Festival was a great weekend of perfect weather, amazing music, tremendous workshops, dancing and jamming;   and a great time was had by all.

2011 showed another noted increase in the early arrival of weekend campers, however with the nice weather a lot of our farming folks stayed home in the fields, so overall attendance was down slightly. Workshop numbers climbed considerably and the addition of the Cultural classes (teaching Métis Beading and Métis Finger Weaving) on Saturday Morning were a huge hit.

The fiddle contest had 47 competitors and the Jigging contest had 25. This resulted in over $11,000.00 in prize money going to almost every province across Canada.

Another “first” for the John Arcand Fiddle Fest (and another big hit ) was a headliner for the Friday Evening concert.  J.P. Cormier and the Elliott Brothers from Nova Scotia packed the house!  Opening for them were Silje and Hogne Midtbo-Vevle from Norway with a demonstration of the Hardanger fiddles and that was a well received visit to a different culture.

Thursday evening’s “Fiddle Instructors” concert was phenomenal and the Saturday Night John Arcand and special friends (which teams up youth with a mentor) was once again a poignant and moving show. The old time dances on Friday and Saturday were jam-packed, again emphasizing the need to increase the dance floor.
A new initiative in 2010; our daytime programming on Thursday and Friday afternoon was offered again this year with a noted increase in attendance and will definitely become an addition to each years programming.
With the high increase of youth in attendance, the children’s activity area was a “beehive” of activity – and we added some special guests on Saturday afternoon!  Roger Dallaire and Daniel Gervais (Trad’badour) conducted mini-workshop on spoon playing, call and response songs, dance and storytelling and these proved to be a most welcome addition.

Fundraising for the Capital Campaign this year included a recently published cookbook, as well as 50/50’s and a raffle. As a result the completion of Phase One of our Capital Campaign grows nearer and nearer.
Here’s the complete list of competitors and winners in the fiddle and jigging contests.

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2011 FIDDLING COMPETITION RESULTS

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2011 JIGGING COMPETITION RESULTS