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 2012, the 39th edition of the Festival of Cape Breton Fiddling took place August 18-19. 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, yielding this schedule:

• On Saturday from 14h-17h, fiddle 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, the Gala Concert took place on the stage of the Gaelic College’s Great Hall of the Clans.

This year, alas, the morning was rainy, leading to a decision to hold the concert inside in the Great Hall of the Clans. Although the rain ended at 14h05, five minutes after the concert started, and the afternoon’s weather was beautiful, it’s simply not possible to change the venue at a moment’s notice given all of the sound equipment and electronics that require advance set-up and checking, not to mention the canteen and merchandise tables which would also have had to be moved. The Association is fortunate indeed to be able to hold the concert inside in case of inclement weather.

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. Tickets on a $1000 draw (won by Kinnon Beaton) were also sold. Staffed by volunteers, the proceeds from all of these activities help support the work of the Association.

The St Anns 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 again 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 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, 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 Great Hall of the Clans. I had an excellent spot in the front row of the seating in front of the stage.

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. My apologies to the Highland dancers and some of the step-dancers: I was shooting with a new camera whose quirks I’ve not yet entirely mastered without a flash at 1/60th of a second and that was not quite fast enough to prevent blurring—the photos shown here are the clearest I got: these dancers were moving fast! If we’re again inside next year, I’ll have to remember to up the shutter setting for the dance numbers.

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 Kelly MacArthur, who supplied the names of the dancers and the dances I didn’t get down and corrected a couple of textual errors, and to Bob MacEachern, who provided the answers to 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” 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	Pictures
1	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association First Group Number
2	Wendy Bergfeldt emceeing
3	Allie Bennett on fiddle accompanied by Leanne Aucoin on keyboards
4	Joe MacNeil singing accompanied by Leanne Aucoin on keyboards
5	Mckayla MacNeil on fiddle accompanied by Leanne Aucoin on keyboards
6	Olivia Burke and Zoë MacLellan Highland dancing (Sword Dance)
7	Bradie Lyn MacKay and Anna Ritter Highland dancing (Flora MacDonald’s Fancy)
8	Drea Shepherd and Isabelle Pilling Highland dancing (Seann Triubhas)
9	Larry Parks on fiddle accompanied by Hilda Chiasson on keyboards
10	Bob MacEachern emceeing
11	Natalie DeCoste step-dancing to the music of Michaela Bourgeron on fiddle and Leanne Aucoin on keyboards
12	Leanne Aucoin on fiddle accompanied by Hilda Chiasson on keyboards
13	Isabelle Pilling, Anna Ritter, Drea Shepherd, and Bradie Lyn MacKay Highland dancing (Strathspey and Reel of Tulloch)
14	Olivia Burke and Zoë MacLellan Highland dancing (Highland Fling)
15	Breagh MacInnis Highland dancing (Irish Jig) to the music of Leanne Aucoin on fiddle and Susan MacLean on keyboards
16	Drea Shepherd step-dancing to the music of Leanne Aucoin on fiddle and Susan MacLean on keyboards
17	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association Tribute to Deceased Members
18	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association Second Group Number
19	Alexandria Sampson on solo harp
20	Kinnon Beaton on fiddle accompanied by Betty Lou Beaton on keyboards
21	Brenda Stubbert on fiddle accompanied by Betty Lou Beaton on keyboards
22	Claudine Broussard on fiddle accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
23	Olivier Broussard on fiddle accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
24	Kelly Shaw on fiddle accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboards
25	Douglas Cameron on fiddle accompanied by Lawrence Cameron on keyboards
26	Janelle Boudreau on fiddle accompanied by Leanne Aucoin on keyboards, James Boudreau on guitar, and Lauren Boudreau on bodhrán
27	The Boisdale Trio of Fiddlers (Father Francis Cameron, Paul Wukitsch, and Joe Peter MacLean) accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
28	Natalie DeCoste Highland dancing to the music of Leanne Aucoin on fiddle and Janet Cameron on keyboards
29	Melody Cameron on fiddle accompanied by Tyson Chen on keyboards and Derrick Cameron on guitar
30	Cape Breton University Seniors Fiddling Group directed by Eddie Rogers and accompanied by Leanne Aucoin on keyboards
31	David Papazian on fiddle accompanied by Tyson Chen on keyboards and Derrick Cameron on guitar
32	Fred MacEachern singing accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
33	Donaldson MacLeod on fiddle accompanied by Janet Cameron on keyboards
34	Lawrence Cameron on solo keyboards
35	Cape Breton Fiddlers’ Association Third Group Number
36	Celebratory Step-Dancing during the Finale