Each year, the Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association, presents a two-day festival . 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. […] 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 Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in St Anns, in 2011, the 38th edition of the Festival of Cape Breton Fiddling took place August 20-21. In past years, 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, yielding this schedule:

• On Saturday from 14h-17h, fiddle, piano, and step-dance workshops were conducted by some of the Association’s finest performers and instructors.
• A BBQ followed from 17h-18h.
• A jam session, running from 18h-22h, completed Saturday’s offering.
• On Sunday from 14h-19h (it actually ran to a bit past 20h), the Gala Concert took place on the stage of the Gaelic College’s outdoor amphitheatre.

This year, for a most welcome change, the weather was sunny and the skies were blue, attracting many to the grassy areas surrounding the amphitheatre as well as to the seating provided in front of the stage.

The canteen, in addition to the usual cold drinks, tea, and coffee, featured hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, and 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. Tickets on a 50/50 draw and a raffle for a fiddle were also sold. Staffed by volunteers, the proceeds from all of these activities help support the work of the Association.

The St Ann’s concerts are important as they provide a gauge of the health of the music, featuring, as they do, the upcoming youth players and many of Cape Breton’s best players. This concert revealed that the music is in very good shape, though the number of very young players was smaller this year than in years past: the youth of a few years ago have now taken their rightful rôle as sought-after, experienced performers of the music (indeed, some were unable to attend because of performance commitments elsewhere).

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 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, and carrying out the many other functions all year long that are necessary to make this festival 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.

Emceed by Bob MacEachern, owner and General Manager of radio station 101.5 The Hawk (CIGO) in Port Hawkesbury, and by Wendy Bergfeldt, hostess of CBC Radio’s Island Echoes and Mainstreet Cape Breton, the Gala Concert began very shortly after 14h on the stage of the Gaelic College’s outdoor natural amphitheatre. I had an excellent spot in the front row of the seating in front of the stage and the natural lighting provided by the sun was a welcome relief from the struggles with lighting I had last year.

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 those standing in the back may be obscured by those standing in the front. I hope you will nevertheless enjoy the photos presented here.

The Performance Listing below 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. My thanks go to Bob MacEachern who had answers to most of the questions I asked of him.

To begin looking at the pictures, click on any picture in the “Pictures” column of the Performance Listing table immediately below to jump directly to the picture on the page that holds it. Alternatively, click on the “First Page” 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 Page” link on each subsequent page until you reach the last page (from which it will be missing). (The “Previous Page” link, which appears on pages after the first, will take you to the previous page in the sequence. The “First Page” and “Last Page” links take you to the first and last pages of the sequence, respectively.)

Id	Performance	Pictures
1	Bob MacEachern and Wendy Bergfeld emcee the Gala Concert on Sunday
2	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association first group number directed by Eddie Rodgers and accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
3	Lawrence Cameron on solo keyboards
4	Douglas Cameron on fiddle accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboards
5	Kay Handrahan step-dancing to the music of Douglas Cameron on fiddle accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboards
6	Kinnon Beaton on fiddle accompanied by Betty Lou Beaton on keyboards
7	Ava Sturm step-dancing to the music of Kinnon Beaton on fiddle accompanied by Betty Lou Beaton on keyboards
8	Joe MacNeil singing accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboards
9	Donaldson MacLeod on fiddle accompanied by Doug MacPhee on keyboards
10	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association second group number directed by Eddie Rodgers and accompanied by Betty Lou Beaton on keyboards
11	Fred MacCracken singing accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
12	Stan Chapman on fiddle accompanied by Susan MacLean on keyboards
13	Drea Shepherd and Olivia Burke dancing a highland fling
14	Danielle LeBlanc dancing an Irish jig
15	Mickey Davis on fiddle accompanied by Leanne Aucoin on keyboards and Jesse Lewis on guitar
16	Doug MacPhee on solo keyboards
17	Drea Shepherd and Olivia Burke dancing the sword dance
18	Danielle LeBlanc dancing a hornpipe
19	Joe Peter MacLean on fiddle accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
20	Myles Trépanier on fiddle accompanied by Dave Trépanier on guitar
21	Lawrence Martell singing self-accompanied on guitar
22	Larry Parks on fiddle accompanied by Doug MacPhee on keyboards
23	Alexandria Samson on harp
24	Mikayla MacNeil on fiddle accompanied by Leanne Aucoin on keyboards
25	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association Board of Directors
26	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association Tribute to Deceased Members
27	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association third group number, a tribute to the deceased members, directed by Eddie Rodgers and accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards
28	Betty Lord singing
29	Lucy MacNeil on fiddle accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards
30	René Cusson on small pipes and highland bagpipes
31	Éphrem Bourgeois on fiddle accompanied by Leanne Aucoin on keyboards and Denis Larade on guitar
32	Claudine Broussard and Olivier Broussard on dual fiddles
33	Trina Samson step-dancing to the music of Melody Cameron on fiddle accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards
34	Melody Cameron on fiddle accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards and Derrick Cameron on guitar
35	Monica MacNeil on soprano saxophone accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards
36	Brenda Stubbert on fiddle accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards
37	Alice Freeman singing
38	Cape Breton University “Seniors College” Group directed by Eddie Rodgers and accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
39	Larry Roach on fiddle accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
40	Kyle MacNeil on fiddle accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards
41	Kyle MacNeil and Malcolm MacNeil on fiddles accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards
42	Erin Martell singing self-accompanied on guitar
43	Lawrence Martell on fiddle accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards
44	Brad Reed on fiddle accompanied by Kolten MacDonnell on keyboards
45	David Papazian on fiddle accompanied by Sheumas MacNeil on keyboards
46	Kolten MacDonnell on fiddle accompanied by Leanne Aucoin on keyboards and Jesse Lewis on guitar
47	Max Cook and Leon Costello on highland bagpipes
48	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association final group number directed by Eddie Rodgers and accompanied by Susan MacLean on keyboards