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Four separate festivals on Driftpile valley site this year
Joe McWilliams
for Spotlight
A lot of people were not happy when the North Country Fair moved from its longtime location at Joussard five years ago. They proved it by staying away in droves from the first edition of the Fair at its new Driftpile valley location in 2005.
But the next year the numbers were a bit better. They kept getting better, to the point that Fair organizers are talking again about keeping the crowd within manageable limits.
“Last year was probably the best we’ve ever had as far as attendance and general attitude,” says artistic director Carol Weatherall. “At some point we may want to think about limiting the number of people.”
That’s a nice problem to have, especially with what Weatherall says is a much improved security situation.
“We have very little security problems compared to when we were in Joussard,” she says. “That’s been a huge benefit to us in getting people back again.”
Colin Ross agrees. The longtime Fair hand says it was a bit of a leap of faith moving to the new site, and it was not without its struggles.
“We had a series of challenges just getting our membership to agree that the move was in fact a good idea in the first place,” Ross says in an email. “This caused a lot of strife initially. We seem to be comfortable in our skin now, though.”
One of the attractions of the fair has always been the camping, and in that regard, the new site has the definite advantage. There’s much more space, for one thing. This allows for more elbow room for the campers. Access is easier to control too. Practically speaking, there’s only one way in and out of the grounds.
“It’s very difficult for those who do not belong there to get in just to make trouble,” Ross says. “Incidents of fighting and other abuse (have) plummeted.”
Improvements to the camping areas are in the plans, says Roxanne McDonald, President of the Lesser Slave Lake North Country Community Association. These include planting trees and extending water facilities.
Moving into the actual performance area of the Fair, visitors will see a re-modeled Shady Grove stage this year, McDonald says. A new main stage is probably still a couple of years away, but is firmly in the plans.
What else is new?
“There’s going to be four festivals on the site this summer,” says Weatherall.
The original idea, she says, to make the venue available to other organizations, and it is working out that way.
One is the Sasquatch Festival, July 23 – 25. It’s been at various locations around Alberta over the past several years, including Easyford, near Drayton Valley last year. Read all about it online at brassmonkeyproductions.com.
Another is called ‘Astral Harvest,’ which Weatherall describes as ‘electronica’. It’s actually the third year for Astral Harvest at the site, and it’ll be on the July long weekend (see more at www. astralharvest.com).
On the August long weekend is a roots/blues type of festival, which Weatherall is also involved in. David Gogo, Brickhouse and the Sunparlour Players are three of the acts booked for that weekend.
“We’re hoping to start small and build up,” she says.
The Big One, however, is the North Country Fair, which is in its 32nd year, coming right up June 18 – 20.
Weatherall has been recruiting the talent for the Fair for the past 15 or 16 years and follows the philosophy that bigger (as in more famous) is not necessarily better.
“I don’t think a known name necessarily means better quality,” Weatherall says. “I never have a couple of huge, expensive bands and cheap out (on the rest).”
Neil Young and Bruce Cockburn would be nice, she admits, but it ain’t going to happen.
What Weatherall really likes doing – and which provides the Fair with much of its flavour – is put together what she calls ‘workshops’ on the various side stages around the site. These are musicians drawn from the various acts and put together on stage around a theme. The results are always interesting and sometimes quite brilliant.
“I love them,” Weatherall says. “Throw a bunch of performers together and see what they come up with.”
Sometimes the workshops result in productive collaborations after the fact, such as when Colin Linden ended up producing Janiva Magnus’s next album after they on a workshop stage.
As for the line-up for this year’s Fair, it runs to over 40 acts, all of which are posted at lslncca.ca/current. The names include Maria in the Shower, The Swiftys, Traveler, Romi Mayes, Dave McCann and the Firehearts, Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm and many more.
Tickets this year, McDonald tells us, have not gone up. They’re $100 for the weekend advance, and $120 at the gate. Various other options exist, for which also see the Fair website.
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Kapown Treatment Centre staff: top row from left are Connie Calliou, Darwin Halcrow, program coordinator Kim Hallock, George Halcrow, Simon Willier,
chef Fern Halcrow, and CEO Connie McKee. Front row from left are Patty Anderson, Hazel Tompkins, and Elise Auger.
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