Kick up your heels at Celtic Colours, Cape Breton’s island-wide musical adventure
Here’s the thing about Cape Breton Island’s Celtic Colours International Festival: Attending once is never enough.
Not when you have warm memories of a magical October evening standing on a wide veranda at a Baddeck inn that once welcomed Alexander Graham Bell, waiting for a shuttle to sweep you to the legendary Festival Club, a nightly after hours musical jam that takes place each evening at the Gaelic College in St. Ann’s.
Not when you close your eyes and recall the feeling of being in the college’s Great Hall of the Clans, with stone walls and clan tartans framing the room, listening to the Black Family, one of Ireland’s most important musical families, tell the capacity crowd how their mother passed down the joy of song. “She’d be so happy when she sang. That’s why we all wanted to sing.”
Not when you blink and you’re back in your seat, a pew in the acoustically gifted St. Matthew’s Church in Inverness hearing internationally renowned, author Alistair MacLeod read from his award-winning classic, No Great Mischief, while sharing the stage with wonderful wordsmiths, fiery fiddle players and soulful Gaelic singers.
Not when you’re sitting in the concert hall at the Sydney Marine Terminal, hushed and in semi-darkness when 28 miners in coveralls and hard hats come in clapping and singing. The crowd cheers and claps along as the world-famous Men of the Deeps, Cape Breton’s coal miners’ chorus, break into two lines and file through the audience onto the stage, aided only by their helmet lamplights.
Hard to beat
I’m here to tell you, Celtic Colours, that nine-day musical romp that sweeps the breadth of the island each October, is something that stays with you.
Since its introduction in 1997, the festival has become one of Canada’s best musical events for good reason. I know I’ve felt raw emotion, zest for life, poignancy, and history and heritage reverberating in every story and song as a roster of dazzling international guest artists join the finest of Cape Breton’s musicians, singers, dancers, storytellers and tradition bearers in dozens of concerts.
“What makes Celtic Colours so special is the unique combination of music, scenery, hospitality and heritage,” says Dave Mahalik, festival information officer since 1999.
With nine nights of music til dawn, nine days of cultural experiences, driving around Cape Breton (regularly singled out as one of the world’s best islands, regularly singled out for beauty), enjoying local eats in welcoming communities—“it’s a combination that’s hard to beat,” he says.
“For the locals, it’s a chance to see some great musicians from around the world playing alongside local legends and up and comers. And it’s a great time of year to go for a drive around the island. About half of the audience typically comes from off-island and that mix provides an authentic atmosphere for visitors. As much as local audiences can be impressed by well-known performers from away, they always have a special place for the local performers. And as much as visitors to the festival and the island appreciate the opportunity to see some big name acts in the relatively intimate setting of Celtic Colours, they too are here to see the Cape Breton performers—in their natural habitat, so to speak. For some it’s a connection to their past, others come to feed their love of music. Or their interest in the culture.”
With more than 40 concerts in communities all over the island, there’s plenty of music to choose from each night. And the days offer an abundance of things to do too. From community meals and farmers markets, to guided hikes, to demonstrations, lectures and lessons, the “cultural experiences” series provides an opportunity to dig deeper into the culture and history of the music, the language, the dance and traditions of Celtic music and Cape Breton Island.
There’s time to drive the world-renowned Cabot Trail, sing sea shanties at local ceilidhs, sit down to a lobster supper, walk glens and highlands, and attend workshops.
Slow down, enjoy it
“Take advantage of the opportunity to explore,” says Mahalik. “Take the long way to a concert. Stop in for a community meal. Make plans to take in some of the many cultural experiences offered in communities all over the island.”
There’s so much going on, you can’t get to it all. But you can tailor your experience. Want a concert of rousing Cape Breton fiddling or an afternoon listening to world-class bagpiping? Want to hike the iconic Skyline Trail in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, try a Gaelic language lesson, or fly through a dance-till-you-drop square dance? You can easily make the adventure your own.
One year, we signed on for a morning stepdance lesson, shuffling through strathspey and reel steps and the step-shuffle, step-shuffle jig step, pounding the floor in joy at an elementary school in Whycocomagh, a pretty village overlooking the Bras d’Or Lake, Canada’s largest inland sea.
“Don’t worry about mistakes. You’re learning. It’s all new, right?” instructor Stephanie MacDonald told the crowd, folks from around the globe gathered to experience Celtic culture.
“We’re soooo excited to be in Cape Breton,” says a trio of Grade 12 Eastwood Collegiate Institute pals from Kitchener, Ont, on a class trip. “We get to see the roots of the culture, and it’s beautiful here.”
With lesson done, we set out for Ingonish, to the iconic Keltic Lodge to hike the Middle Head Trail, which starts near the resort. The sun is shining and the trail, one of many jewels in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, is calling.
We hike the long, narrow peninsula separating two ocean bays ending on headland cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Smokey and Ingonish Island. The beauty is hypnotic.
Back at Keltic Lodge, with our souls full of beauty and culture, we grab a seat at the bar for a cool drink and chatter with guests eager to share their concert experiences, as we tuck away yet another memory until we return again.
The 2014 Celtic Colours International Festival runs October 10-18.
- Want help picking shows? Call the festival toll free line 1-877-285-2321 and they’ll give suggestions based on your preferences.
- Concert tickets and accommodations can sell out early. It’s best to book both as soon as possible. The line-up is announced in late June with tickets on sale in early July.
- A free return shuttle runs each evening from major hotels in Baddeck to the after hours Festival Club.
- To travel around Cape Breton, a car is required.
- Tips for festival goers? As co-founder Max MacDonald once said, “Celtic Colours is a marathon not a sprint.” Pacing yourself is important as the days can get long. And remember, you can’t see everything, no matter how hard you try. It’s simply impossible. “Make arrangements to attend the Festival Club at least one night, preferably near the beginning of your stay as you may want to adjust the rest of your stay to include more nights at the Festival Club,” says information officer Dave Mahalik.
- Information: celtic-colours.com and cbisland.com