Each year, the Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association, presents a two-day festival of Cape Breton Fiddling, now held at the Gaelic College at St Anns. This festival is the present day successor of the first Festival of Cape Breton Fiddling, held in 1973 in Glendale. Quoting from the Association’s history web page:

In February, 1972, a CBC documentary entitled The Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler was produced by Ron MacInnis. The premise of this film was [that] the traditional Cape Breton violin music was in a state of decline, and that it would soon disappear entirely! Reaction to this documentary was swift and disbelieving. The most notable achievement of the film was that it shook Cape Bretoners out of their complacency, and it made them aware [that], quite possibly, the Cape Breton Fiddle was facing extinction.

Father John Angus Rankin was one of the key people who vowed that this would never happen! A group composed of Frank MacInnis, Father Eugene Morris, Burton MacIntyre, Archie Neil Chisholm, Father John Angus Rankin, Rod Chisholm, Judge Hugh J. MacPherson, Anne Marie MacDonald, Jeannette Beaton, Joey Beaton, and Ray MacDonald met as a result of a letter sent out by Frank MacInnis. This group discussed the possibility of forming some kind of a fiddlers’ festival. This dedicated group of people decided to proceed with the concept; thus, the very seed of the Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association began. Because of the efforts of this determined group, the first Festival of Cape Breton Fiddling was held in Glendale in July 1973. Over one hundred and thirty proud Cape Breton fiddlers arrived in Glendale that weekend and gave one of the greatest concerts ever witnessed in Cape Breton. Several thousand people made up the audience.

Preparation for the successful 1973 festival gave birth to the Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association, and its work continues today. The Association’s main mandate has been to preserve and promote traditional Cape Breton fiddle music. Since its inception, it has provided workshops and opportunities for its members to learn new tunes and techniques, it has published tunes written by its members, and it has provided venues for musicians to perform for thousands of people. It has nurtured and supported its members to excel; as a result, many of our wonderful members are now performing worldwide. Our membership has increased to include both local, national, and international members. We have been included in several publications, and we have some wonderful recordings to our credit. Cape Breton fiddle music is alive and flourishing both on the Island and throughout the world; and the Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association is proud to have played a significant role in this resurgence.

Now held on the week-end containing the third Saturday in August at the Colaisde na Gàidhlig / The Gaelic College in St Anns, in 2016, the 43rd edition of the Festival of Cape Breton Fiddling took place August 20-21. In years past, a Youth Concert was held Saturday afternoon and evening and the Gala Concert was held on Sunday; in 2011, the format was changed to replace the youth concert with a jam session and in later years a cèilidh/square dance has become the main Saturday event with an informal jam session occurring afterwards. The schedule for 2016 was as follows:

• On Saturday from 14h-17h, workshops in fiddle, piano, and step-dance were conducted by some of the Association’s finest performers and instructors.
• Supper was available at concession stands from 17h to 18h30.
• A cèilidh at 19h featured wonderful fiddling, dancing, piping, and singing, and ended with a square dance.
• On Sunday from 14h-19h, the Gala Concert, the highlight of the festival, took place on the outdoor stage on the grounds of the Gaelic College; it featured a rich line-up of local, national, and international fiddlers, piano players, bagpipers, singers, step-dancers, and highland dancers.

Like so many on Cape Breton, this Festival could not have been mounted without the commitment and perseverance of the many volunteers, whose support is crucial to this Festival’s continued success. To the Association’s directors, stage managers, emcees, canteen crew, chaperones, those staffing the ticket tables, maintaining the membership lists, selling merchandise to raise funds for the Association, ferrying youth players to and from practice sessions and concerts, preparing instructional materials, and carrying out the many other functions all year long that are necessary to make this Festival and the Association the success it is year after year—to all of them we owe a huge vote of thanks and appreciation for their time, work, and dedication. Cape Breton’s fiddle music would not be the same without them!

Sunday afternoon was bright and sunny, mild at +20 (68), with some fluffy white clouds and a nice breeze, a perfect day for an outdoor concert on the Gaelic College’s stage in its natural outdoor amphitheatre overlooking St Anns Harbour.

The canteen, in addition to the usual cold drinks, tea, and coffee, featured hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, and home-cut fries; ice cream and fresh stawberry shortcake were available for dessert. CD’s, DVD’s, books, tee-shirts, and other similar materials were also on sale during the concerts. Staffed by volunteers, the proceeds from all of these activities help support the work of the Association.

The thrilling sound of massed fiddles is reason enough to hold this Festival. But it is also important as it provides opportunities to many of the members to demonstrate their skills as fiddlers and pianists and dancers. Moreover, the Festival provides a gauge of the health of the music, featuring, as it does, the upcoming youth players and many of Cape Breton’s best players. This Gala Concert again revealed that the music is in very fine shape, though the number of very young players in attendance was smaller than one would like: the youth of a few years ago have now taken their rightful rôle as sought-after, experienced performers of the music.

The Gala Concert concluded the 43rd Anniversary celebrations at the Festival. Emceed jointly by Wendy Bergfeldt, hostess of CBC Radio’s Mainstreet Cape Breton, and by Bob MacEachern, owner and manager of 101.5 The Hawk in Port Hawkesbury, the Gala Concert began shortly after 14h on the stage of the Gaelic College’s natural amphitheatre (seen below before the concert began). I had an excellent spot in the front row of the seating in front of the stage; in addition, Frank MacInnis gave me permission to photograph from the area above the stage, which I did during the group numbers—this allowed me to get photos of those that were hidden by those standing in front.

I am not a professional photographer, so take the photos for what they are: my best attempt to capture what was going on at a live event. Inevitably, microphones get in the road and the angle from which I was shooting means that some may be obscured by others. With those caveats, I hope you will nevertheless enjoy the photos presented here.

The Performance Listing reflects the names I heard and wrote down at the concert, but given my lack of acute hearing, what I present here may well not be what was said. I apologize in advance to those whose names I mis-heard or misspelt. Corrections are most welcome: use the contact link in the navigation bar at the bottom to notify me of any errors. I am indedebted to Kelly MacArthur for the names of the dancers and dances from the Kelly MacArthur School of Dance, to Bob MacEachern for the names of the deceased members I didn’t get written down as they were read, and to Betty Matheson for the names of one of the singers.

To begin looking at the photos, click on any thumbnail in the “Photos” column of the Performance Listing table immediately below to jump directly to the full-sized photo on the page that holds it. Alternatively, click on the “First” link in the navigation bar at the top of this page to be taken to the first photo page and continue through them in sequence by clicking on the “Next” link on each subsequent page until you reach the last page (from which it will be missing). (The “Previous” link, which appears on pages after the first, will take you to the previous page in the sequence. The “First” and “Last” links take you to the first and last pages of the sequence, respectively.)

Id	Performance	Photos
1	Wendy Bergfeldt and Bob MacEachern open the Gala Concert
2	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association First Group Number
3	Fred McCracken singing Kitty Bawn O'Brien and The Green Glens of Antrim, accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboard
4	Rodney MacDonald on fiddle, accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboard and Mike Barron on guitar
5	Stephanie MacDonald step‑dancing to the music of Rodney MacDonald on fiddle, Lawrence Cameron on keyboard, and Mike Barron on guitar
6	Lawrence Cameron on solo keyboard
7	Kolten MacDonell on fiddle, accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboard
8	Rodney MacDonald step‑dancing to the music of Dara Smith-MacDonald on fiddle and Susan MacLean on keyboard
9	Kyle Kennedy MacDonald on fiddle accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
10	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association Tribute to Deceased Members
11	Sophie and Madeleine LeVert from the Kelly MacArthur School of Dance highland dancing to recorded music
12	Drea Shepherd dancing The Tribute to James L. MacKenzie to the music of Dara Smith-MacDonald on fiddle and Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
13	Stòras na h-Òigridh (Treasures of Youth) awards presentation
14	Glengarry fiddler Bernard MacDonnell accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
15	Glengarry fiddlers Koryne Fraser, Don MacPhee, and Bernard MacDonnell accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
16	Lisa MacNeil step‑dancing to the music of Howie MacDonald on fiddle and Lawrence Cameron on keyboard
17	Marcellin Chiasson on mandolin accompanied by Gaston Aucoin on guitar
18	Shawnee Paul on fiddle accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboard
19	Joe MacNeil sings Make and Break Harbour accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboard
20	A contingent of the PEI Queens County Fiddlers accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
21	Mckayla MacNeil on fiddle accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
22	Kolten MacDonell step‑dancing to the music of Dara Smith-MacDonald on fiddle and Lawrence Cameron on keyboard
23	Dara Smith-MacDonald on fiddle accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboard
24	Sophie and Madeleine LeVert from the Kelly MacArthur School of Dance highland dancing to recorded music
25	Drea Shepherd dancing The Sailor’s Hornpipe to the music of Dara Smith-MacDonald on fiddle and Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
26	A quartet sings Gaelic songs
27	Wilfred Prosper, Jr on accordion accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
28	The Feisty Fiddlers, directed by Eddie Rogers and accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
29	Iain MacQuarrie step-dancing to the music of Howie MacDonald on fiddle, Lawrence Cameron on keyboard, and Mary Beth Carty on guitar
30	Howie MacDonald on fiddle, accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboard and Mary Beth Carty on guitar
31	Cheryl MacQuarrie step-dancing to the music of Howie MacDonald on fiddle, Lawrence Cameron on keyboard, and Mary Beth Carty on guitar
32	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association Third Group Number
33	Donny LeBlanc on fiddle accompanied by Howie MacDonald on keyboard
34	Lauren and Janelle Boudreau step-dancing to the music of Kyle Kennedy MacDonald on fiddle and James Boudreau on guitar
35	Olivier Broussard on fiddle accompanied by Paryse Broussard on keyboard
36	Larry Parks on fiddle accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
37	Brenda Stubbert on fiddle accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
38	Tracey Bailey step-dancing to the music of Brenda Stubbert on fiddle accompanied by Kolten MacDonell on keyboard
39	Stephanie MacDonald on fiddle accompanied by Susan MacLean on keyboard
40	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association Fourth Group Number