The 26th Annual Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival saw some major changes in its programming structure. We added two new venues to the festival: the oral traditions tent, and the dance stage. We also changed the start time of the festival, opening the gates at 10:00 a.m! The three workshop stages (Oral Traditions, Dance, and Instrumental) operated acoustically from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. At that time, we shut down the workshop stages, and the sessions on the Main Stage and the Neil Murray Stage began.

We were quite anxious about the success of our new programming initiatives, particularly with the early start-time. Ten o'clock in the morning is a hard hour to expect people to come out to a musical performance, and it's an ungodly hour for the musicians who have to participate in those performances!

At 9:30 Saturday morning, I was quite apprehensive. At about 9:55, I was chewing a hole through my jacket as I watched them coming in through the gate...our audience! Never had a group of people looked so beautiful to me; I could barely refrain from leaping at them and screaming my thanks, but I didn't want to alarm them, especially since the beer tent wasn't open yet!

The workshops were a resounding success. Audience members got to see Finest Kind, David Francey, Harry Martin, Crowd of Bold Sharemen, Pamela Morgan, Christina Smith, the Codroy Valley Fiddlers, the Penney Folk Dancers, and numerous other performers, in an intimate, interactive setting.

On Sunday afternoon, our Festival Coordinator, Bridget Noonan, sidled up to me and asked, "Would it be possible to get rid of the Main Stage next year, and just have a festival of workshops?" She was joking, of course, but I knew what she meant. The performers were more accessible on the workshop stages. They chatted with each other, and with audience members. They talked about how they learned their tunes, and what inspired their songs. Performers and public alike had a greater appreciation of each other when they left those tents. In those small, intimate settings, they had a chance to establish something that is much harder to create during a Main Stage performance: rapport.

But don't worry; we're not the kind of crowd that throws out the baby with the bath water! The Main Stage and Neil Murray stage are both here to stay. There is something exciting about that "big sound" carrying across the park. Still, the workshop venues proved to be a nice complement to the rest of the festival program. They gave performers the opportunity to dig a little deeper, sing a little softer, and talk a little longer. Almost as if we were in someone's kitchen! Our traditional arts are not something to be "gawked at" by audiences…we'll leave those kinds of displays of entertainment exhibitionism to the likes of Ms. Spears and Madonna. The close contact between the performers and the audience members in the workshop tents deepened the interest of some people in the various instruments, dances, and songs that were presented, and created an environment conducive to "passing on" these traditions.

So grab a fiddle, learn the Goat, pick up a tin whistle, and don't worry too much about whether or not you sing in tune....after all, if you really feel that you can't sing, you can learn a recitation! There really is a "folk art" for everyone, regardless of interests or abilities.

And on that happy note, don't forget that the St. John's Folk Arts Council sponsors a series of interactive workshops in the Newfoundland traditional arts. Keep an eye on our website, or ask us to put you on our email list to keep you informed of our upcoming events.

See you on the dance floor…