The Filberg Festival celebrates excellence in Canadian arts and crafts and music, featuring over 100 juried crafts booths and musical entertainment on two stages.
For the past 30 years this festival has raised the money needed to restore and maintain the beautiful Filberg heritage property. Tickets are $15 daily or $40 for a weekend pass. The 2013 festival runs Aug. 2 to 5.
On Friday, Aug. 2, start the day with the Fred Eaglesmith Traveling Show (it has been awhile since Fred has been at the Filberg Festival and folks have been missing him), and end the day with the rich and textured voices of the Sojourners (the group is known for bringing back gospel with grit).
On Saturday, first up is Spirit of the West followed by country songwriter Ridley Bent (CCMA nominee and seven-time BCCMA winner) who performs twice; once in the Song Swap with country roots songwriter Sean Hogan (CCMA award winner), and again at the end of the day, with a crackerjack band.
On Sunday, Murray McLauchlan (one of Canada's most influential songwriters) starts the day with a rare solo performance. Later, Fraser Union will sing West Coast songs with gusto, conviction and good harmonies and the Jim Byrnes Duo will finish off the day with a joyful celebration of country music and fancy guitar work.
On Monday, we start off with Filberg Festival favourite boogie-woogie and jazz piano player Michael Kaeshammer (this year the spontaneous jazz parade that usually erupts during his concert will feature the most colourful jazz umbrellas that you have ever seen).
The Great Canadian Songs Concert will feature special guest Murray McLauchlan (an Order of Canada recipient and one of Canada's greatest songwriters).
Host of the Blues Panel Concert this year is guitarist Sam Hurrie, who will be joined by multi-instrumentalist Michael Jerome Browne, guitarists Ken Hamm, and Paul Pigat, harmonica player Gary Preston, and Anita Bonkowski on bass and percussion.
Each musician takes a turn as lead performer as they showcase the blues past and present, teaching you a little blues history along the way.
This year for the first time, we present a Fiddle Panel Concert featuring:
• Pear: a husband and wife duo who were formerly members of Barrage, the most successful fiddle show in the world.
• Patti Lamoureux with multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Rusu: Patti was the first woman in history to win the prestigious Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship.
Carli and Julie Kennedy: a powerhouse duo that play a fusion of country, folk, jazz and Celtic tunes.
Daniel Lapp, a legendary force in Canada's fiddle scene.
Their material will range from their own original compositions to traditional fiddle tunes from days gone by.
As usual, musically, we will end the festival with our Great Canadian Songs Concert on Monday afternoon. Jake Galbraith, who has been the host of the Great Canadian Songs since 2004, will start the concert.
And we are extremely honoured to have as our special guest one of Canada’s most influential songwriters, Canadian folk icon Murray McLauchlan. Murray has been a part of the fabric of Canadian folk music for many years. He charms listeners with his rich, smooth, singing voice, and he is one of Canada’s best songwriting performers.
The 2013 Invited guest artisans at the festival are the Samphire Family. This B.C. family, husband, wife, and daughter, are each exceptionally talented in their own right.
Adele (pottery) is an accomplished ceramicist who started working with clay in the late sixties. She makes functional wheel thrown ceramics.
Sid (clay artist) produces semi functional stoneware constructed from coils and slabs. Lisa (blown glass) began her glass-blowing career in 1985 and has distinguished herself as a glass artist with amazing technical ability, producing a diverse body of work.
For more information, go to www.filbergfestival.com.
— Filberg Festival