Another weekend spent away from the lodge. But it was a great weekend nonetheless! It’s an annual event for us to attend the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
Poppa and granddaughter at folk fest.
We shared the tarp with our good friend Jodi Howard, her son, her boyfriend and his son. Jodi owns Music Together of the Northern Lights and our daughter is one of her first teachers. In fact, that’s how we got to know Jodi. Music Together is a fantastic program that teaches music, rhythm, and rhyme to preschoolers and their parents.
The festival runs Thursday and Friday evening and from 11 a.m. until late on Saturday and Sunday.
My two favorite things at folk fest are: 1) for my wife and me to find a great session on one of the 7 side stages on a sunny Saturday or Sunday afternoon and relaxing to either a new (to us) artist or finding one of those “magical” moments where the festival organizers have put several musicians together for a session… people who would normally not be in a position to play together. The synergies can be spine tingling! and 2) is to have one of my grandchildren cuddled up on my lap, and eventually fall asleep, late in the evening as we listen to music on the main stage. That happened both nights that we had our grandchildren at the festival and it’s pure joy for me… even though my butt feels like it might not recover after sitting in one place for a couple of hours!
This years festival was a pretty mellow affair for us but did hold some pleasant surprises.
Some main stage highlights included Aimee Mann, Dan Tyminsky Band, Ron Sexsmith, Ryan Shaw (amazing!), Michael Franti and Spearhead (exceptional!), and the closing act, Chris Isaak.
I had seen the Chris Isaak TV show a few times a couple of years ago and found it humorous, but really didn’t know what to expect from a live show. Especially a folk festival closing. He was terrific!
He has a great sense of humor and was very self deprecating. He came out in a pink sequined suit and very shortly afterwards made fun of himself! In fact, he made fun of himself throughout his set. He also has a great band and sang in a variety of styles. He had the crowd up dancing and clapping. It was a great finale to a great weekend.
And weather-wise it couldn’t have been better! Very hot and sunny with one brief downpour for about 20 minutes Saturday night. We stayed dry huddled under a spare tarp we had with us. After that we were treated to a lightening display all around us, but not another drop of rain fell!
It’s an exhausting weekend, but always very satisfying. Next weekend we’ll be back to the lodge. And with any luck there will still be lots of wild blueberries left for picking!
