Folk Festival 2017
Give me live music, a good walk, and delicious food and I'll be happy so it's no wonder that Regina Folk Festival is one of my favourite events.
This year's festival had a whole extra night of free shows (thanks to a Canada 150 grant, I think, so likely just this once) so post work on Thursday night I wandered downtown ate at Malt City (quite possibly for the last time ever as they close at the end of August) and got to the festival in time to see Choir! Choir! Choir!. Quite unlike any other musical act I've ever seen, they are more about motivating other people to sing than actually singing themselves. Their entire performance is essentially just a giant audience participation event and, once I got into it, was quite intoxicating. Following that there was a workshop with Kacy and Clayton who I haven't seen in a couple of years. Kacy's voice is heartbreaking in the best way. Finally, while not part of the festival, I went to The Capitol to hear the Stillhouse Poets and had a chat with Redbeard.
I had Friday off, so I was able to take in Blake Berglund and The Garrys afternoon sets and then I hung around in the park to listen to Kacy and Clayton's main stage set and eat tacos from Malinche. I ended up running into my parents and sitting in the eating area with them listening until sometime after Coeur de Pirate was on.
Saturday, I was up early to hit the Farmers' Market and hung around listening to Lights and ate perogies from Baba's. After lunch I caught some of Ponteix, Kierra Dall'Osto, Tomato Tomato, and Cris Derksen. The highlight though was the hoop dancer who performs with Cris. I have only seen small bits of hoop dancing before but now I can't get enough. Animals appearing and disappearing as hoops moved magically around his body. Incredible!
Saturday was also the day I met my favourite volunteer of the festival. Feeling a bit exhausted from the heat and emotionally drained from a long July, I ended up sitting down with a sambosa from Selam behind the Poutine truck. Next to me was a cute brunette volunteer who had two pink balloons with 50/50 on them. Shortly after I sat down, she called up her friend and tried to give her instructions on how to find her. It was the funniest thing I've seen in ages.
Sunday I actually got out of the house in plenty of time to get to the workshops with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Natalie MacMaster. There were really only a couple of songs each from them, but that's about what I expect for a workshop. I also caught a bit more of the hoop dancing, half of The Wolfe's full set and half of Kierra Dall'Osto's set. Then I went to catch the workshop with Begonia because I know Suzy likes her and that's always a good indication that I'll enjoy something. Sure enough, that may have been the best workshop of the entire festival.
Something even better happened at that workshop. Shortly after it started, I saw Suzy walking down the path and, five minutes later, I had a free main stage ticket for that night. I had to go to my parents' house for supper but they were practically pushing me to get back to the festival even though my brother was in town visiting. I got back in time to catch the tail end of Como Mamas. I initially sat off to one side of the stage as there wasn't a whole lot of good seating left. I guess that explains why people line up early for the main stage although I'd suggest enjoying all the afternoon has to offer instead of sitting in a line for five hours.
After Cobo Mamas, I moved to the boogy zone right in front of the stage. When Suzy gives me a free ticket, there's an implied obligation to enjoy the event as much as possible and there's no better place to watch a concert than in front of the stage with a bunch of fans. There was amazing Celtic music from Natalie MacMaster, unreal mandolin playing by Marty Stuart, and then Buffy Sainte-Marie and impromptu round dances that took over the crowd and swirled me in. It was all too much fun and over too soon.
This year's festival had a whole extra night of free shows (thanks to a Canada 150 grant, I think, so likely just this once) so post work on Thursday night I wandered downtown ate at Malt City (quite possibly for the last time ever as they close at the end of August) and got to the festival in time to see Choir! Choir! Choir!. Quite unlike any other musical act I've ever seen, they are more about motivating other people to sing than actually singing themselves. Their entire performance is essentially just a giant audience participation event and, once I got into it, was quite intoxicating. Following that there was a workshop with Kacy and Clayton who I haven't seen in a couple of years. Kacy's voice is heartbreaking in the best way. Finally, while not part of the festival, I went to The Capitol to hear the Stillhouse Poets and had a chat with Redbeard.
I had Friday off, so I was able to take in Blake Berglund and The Garrys afternoon sets and then I hung around in the park to listen to Kacy and Clayton's main stage set and eat tacos from Malinche. I ended up running into my parents and sitting in the eating area with them listening until sometime after Coeur de Pirate was on.
Saturday, I was up early to hit the Farmers' Market and hung around listening to Lights and ate perogies from Baba's. After lunch I caught some of Ponteix, Kierra Dall'Osto, Tomato Tomato, and Cris Derksen. The highlight though was the hoop dancer who performs with Cris. I have only seen small bits of hoop dancing before but now I can't get enough. Animals appearing and disappearing as hoops moved magically around his body. Incredible!
Saturday was also the day I met my favourite volunteer of the festival. Feeling a bit exhausted from the heat and emotionally drained from a long July, I ended up sitting down with a sambosa from Selam behind the Poutine truck. Next to me was a cute brunette volunteer who had two pink balloons with 50/50 on them. Shortly after I sat down, she called up her friend and tried to give her instructions on how to find her. It was the funniest thing I've seen in ages.
Sunday I actually got out of the house in plenty of time to get to the workshops with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Natalie MacMaster. There were really only a couple of songs each from them, but that's about what I expect for a workshop. I also caught a bit more of the hoop dancing, half of The Wolfe's full set and half of Kierra Dall'Osto's set. Then I went to catch the workshop with Begonia because I know Suzy likes her and that's always a good indication that I'll enjoy something. Sure enough, that may have been the best workshop of the entire festival.
Something even better happened at that workshop. Shortly after it started, I saw Suzy walking down the path and, five minutes later, I had a free main stage ticket for that night. I had to go to my parents' house for supper but they were practically pushing me to get back to the festival even though my brother was in town visiting. I got back in time to catch the tail end of Como Mamas. I initially sat off to one side of the stage as there wasn't a whole lot of good seating left. I guess that explains why people line up early for the main stage although I'd suggest enjoying all the afternoon has to offer instead of sitting in a line for five hours.
After Cobo Mamas, I moved to the boogy zone right in front of the stage. When Suzy gives me a free ticket, there's an implied obligation to enjoy the event as much as possible and there's no better place to watch a concert than in front of the stage with a bunch of fans. There was amazing Celtic music from Natalie MacMaster, unreal mandolin playing by Marty Stuart, and then Buffy Sainte-Marie and impromptu round dances that took over the crowd and swirled me in. It was all too much fun and over too soon.
