Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival features three days of music

The 35th annual Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival is once again set to welcome players and fans of traditional music to three days of concerts and dances in Rollo Bay.

Featuring the best of fiddling, dancing and singing, it all kicks off this evening with a youth showcase at 7:30 p.m., followed by concerts at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, as well as an old-time dance both nights at 10:30 p.m.

The award-winning festival is a tradition that started with one concert on a Sunday afternoon in July of 1976 thanks to the combined efforts of several people, including Joe Pete Chaisson, Father Faber MacDonald and the Eastern Kings Fiddlers Association.

"The main goal back then was to get the music going in Eastern Kings," said Peter Chaisson, one of Joe Pete's sons, who has continued on as one of the main organizers of the annual event.

"My father used to go to Cape Breton in the summer months and come home with all these stories about the culture and tradition and music in Cape Breton that was lacking here. So that inspired him and the others to do something about it."

That "something" was pretty modest the first year. Held outdoors on the current picturesque site in Rollo Bay, they cut the hayfield ahead of time and made do with a makeshift temporary stage and an old tractor trailer box for a tuning room.

"He was more excited about it than we were," said Chaisson. "We sort of laughed it off when he said they were going to organize a fiddle concert . . . But for that first one, there was traffic lined up for a mile and a half coming from the west. It was definitely something that was needed."

And it was something that grew.

Over the years, a stage and tuning room were built on the site, the land was purchased by the Chaisson family (nine members and their spouses in 1993) and the dance hall shelter was built in 1997.

Various family members helped out in advance each year to get the grounds ready, as well as during the festival, doing everything from parking cars and stage-managing to performing on stage and sharing their renowned musical talents.

In addition to promoting traditional Island music and providing an economic spin-off in the area, the money gathered at the gate has provided free fiddle lessons for music students in the area, resulting in people of all ages learning to play.

Over the years, hundreds of players, singers and dancers have found their way to the stage in Rollo Bay. Chaisson, who has only missed one festival in all this time, says a highlight for him was certainly Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster's performance in Rollo Bay two years ago.

The festival, he added, has helped to forge a "really nice bond" between Island musicians and those from around the region and as far away as the northern United States.

Its success has not gone unnoticed. In March of this year the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival received the 2011 Premier's Award for Tourism in recognition of its long-standing contribution to tourism and culture in the province.

The award is presented annually to tourism operators or attractions who have moved the industry forward and inspired others to do the same. The Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival was chosen because it is a long-standing cultural festival that has attracted thousands of visitors to the Island for over three decades.

"I would say he would be pretty proud . . . ," Chaisson said, remembering his father, as he took a brief break from putting the finishing touches on this 35th anniversary edition of the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival. "I think he wanted it to keep going."

at a glance

Fast facts

Don't miss a note: The festival schedule includes the youth showcase on July 15, 7:30-9:30 p.m.; concerts 2-5 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. on July 16-17 and an old-time dance, 10:30 p.m. on July 16-17.

Taking the stage: Howie MacDonald, Brenda Stubbert, Andrea Beaton, Mike Hall, Troy MacGillvray, Chrissy Crowley, Richard Wood, Cynthia MacLeod, Rannie MacLellan, the Queens County Fiddlers, Ward and Allan MacDonald, the Chaisson Family with Peter, Kenny and Kevin, Melanie, Stephen, Darla, J.J., Koady, Timothy, Brent and Elmer Deagle, Lem Chaisson, Urban MacAdam, Chad Mooney, Francis MacDonald, Fiddlers Sons, The Celtic Ladies and many more.

A special honour: On Sunday afternoon, a P.E.I. Fiddlers Society Life Membership Award will be presented to Waldron Leard, in recognition of his huge contribution to showcasing and promoting Island fiddlers through his outstanding photography and the management of the Eastern Kings website at ekpei.ca. Leard goes out of his way to attend every fiddle event in eastern Kings and capture Island fiddlers in the best possible light in order to promote Island fiddling.

Master of ceremonies: Marlene MacDonald.

Admission: Tickets are at the gate. One-day passes and weekend passes are available, as well as tickets for the Friday youth concert. For full ticket details, check out rollobayfiddlefest.ca.

Extras: Plenty of parking is available on site, as well as uniform security on grounds, rough camping, 40 electric and water hookups and canteen service.