Fiddle Festival proves traditional music alive and well in the Maritimes

The 76th annual Maritime Fiddle Festival takes place this weekend.

The 76th annual Maritime Fiddle Festival is on at the NSCC Ivany Campus in Dartmouth, N.S., for two days of traditional music this week. The celebration started Friday and continues until the closing concert Saturday night.

“We like to promote and preserve our Maritime fiddle tradition,” said festival co-chair Diane Hicks.

There are over 45 fiddlers competing at the festival, aged five to 85 or older, said Hicks.

Amelia Parker has participated in the festival since she was six.

“It’s something you work towards every year,” Parker said. “I think it’s great for the youth because it encourages everyone to take up the fiddle and keep the tradition going.”

The festival includes seven fiddle classes, two step dance classes and two nights of music and dancing.

Hicks said the festival started as a fundraiser for a church in Dartmouth in 1950. At 76-years-old, it is Canada’s longest running old-time fiddle contest.

“It just grew and grew over the years,” Hicks said.

Volunteers took over the festival after it grew too large for the church to manage.

The Maritime Fiddle Festival has attracted notable fiddlers during its 76 years including Ivan & Vivian Hicks, Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy, April Verch, J.P. Cormier, Scott Woods, Shane Cook, and others.

“Bring your fiddle. Bring your dancing shoes. It’s going to be a great time,” Hicks said.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit ourdedicated provincial page