A mild +20 (68)) day with grey rain clouds , blue sky patches, and bright sun greeted me for this fourth day of KitchenFest! when I arose somewhat before 9h. As I drove over the backcountry roads to Judique, a doe and a tiny fawn ran along the road in front of me a ways while I was climbing up “Mount Glencoe”; I couldn’t get any photos. When I arrived at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre, very little blue sky remained and the sun was in hiding.
Hailee LeFort on fiddle and Joe MacMaster on keyboard again opened the cèilidh promptly at 11h30 and gave us a good half hour of fine traditional music. Mairi Rankin on fiddle and Allan Dewar on keyboard took over at 12h; Mairi now lives in Vancouver when she’s not touring with her band, so I do not get a lot of chances to hear her delightful music. I ordered and ate my lunch, a house salad and a chicken brie and apple panini, while they played. After more than an hour, Mike Hall replaced Mairi on fiddle and gave us some fine sets. At 13h30, Mairi resumed playing, with a short pause when Margie (Mrs Stanley) Beaton spoke about KitchenFest! and Joe taught two Gaelic phrases. At 14h10, Joe relieved Mairi on fiddle for some sets on fiddle and one on highland bagpipes. Mairi played the final half hour and Hailee step danced during one of her sets. While Mairi was on stage this afternoon, she gave us several gorgeous slow airs as well as a lot of other more lively tunes and I was very content to have heard them all. It would be wonderful to have another CD of her traditional music!
¹ The first three quarters of this post was written on or after the 15th of July, following the posting of the account for 3 July, but was not completed before I returned home; the last quarter was written in 2018 April.↩
at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre today.
at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre today.
at the KitchenFest! lunchtime cèilidh at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre today.
at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre today.
at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre today.
at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre today.
at the KitchenFest! lunchtime cèilidh at the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre today.
When I left the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre at 15h20, some blue sky had returned along with the sun, but lots white clouds were out in force as well, and the temperature had climbed to +24 (75). I then drove to Chéticamp and got my motel room; on the way, I encountered some tourist traffic on Highway 19 north of of Inverness (a trailer, a New Brunswick car, and a string of slow-moving cars), but fortunately they all went towards Margaree Forks, while the Shore Road was empty except for one car, which pulled over past Whale Cove to let me by. In Chéticamp, it was sunny, but with clouds to the south.
I got to the Doryman early and snagged a front row table. I ordered and ate dinner (chowder and pan-fried haddock with fries, all very tasty). I got in a good chat with a friend from Vermont as we both ate dinner. A gentleman from the Margarees and two of his friends from Ohio sat with me; I suggested hikes and places to visit to the Ohio couple and gave a brief introduction to the music on the fly as the cèilidh progressed.
Dominique Dodge emceed tonight’s cèilidh, opened it with a welcome, and taught the audience a few Gaelic phrases. Howie MacDonald and Donny LeBlanc on fiddles, André LeBlanc on keyboard, and Gélas Larade on guitar played their first sets together. Howie then left the stage, giving the original three Doryman “house” players a chance to play together again as they had for so many years in the past. Donny next stepped down and Howie took his place for the next few sets. A waltz drew one couple out to the floor as a beautiful sunset was painting the sky bright colours; this was not a dancing crowd as my notes record no other dancers on the floor. About an hour and half into the cèilidh, the musicians took a fifteen minute break.
with André LeBlanc on keyboard and Gélas Larade on guitar, open the KitchenFest! cèilidh at the Doryman tonight.
After the break, the original three again had the stage and, for the next twenty-five minutes, gave us some more great tunes, beautifully played. What a treat! Howie then relieved Donny and with André and Gélas, continued the cèilidh; what a treasure Howie is! Near the end of the cèilidh, Dominique read off the list of sponsors and thanked them for their support. Donny then rejoined the other three and finished off the cèilidh, though something happened to Gélas’ guitar and he fixed in on the fly, joining the others for the last rousing set. Another grand KitchenFest! cèilidh indeed!
It was partly cloudy with some moonshine and a bracing +13 (55) as I returned to the motel, where I completed and posted last Thursday’s account. I got to bed about 0h50, very content with another wonderful day of KitchenFest! music.