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www.celtic-connection.com
SEPTEMBER 2001
DAVE ABBOTT'S TRAVEL DIARY
Beautiful Prince Edward Island Rugged and Geographically Isolated
HIRTY YEARS AGO, when the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation suggested Cape Breton's musical tradition was on the verge of extinction, the guardians of the
island's heritage were so outraged it galvanized them into action. Music classes, especially for the fiddle, became readily available gaining popularity in homes and schools across the island.
Three decades later, this corner of Canada's Celtic culture is reaping the harvest. There are more fiddlers, set dancers, mandolin and bodhran players here, per capita, than anywhere else on the continent.
It also has a list of talented locals whose names are a veritable international who's-who of Celtic music: The Barra McNeils, Ashley Maclsaac, Howie MacDonald, Natalie MacMaster, Rita MacNeil, The Rankin Family, etcetera, etcetera.
"In Cape Breton these days they carry fiddle cases instead of hockey bags" an islander informed me. And indeed they do, all over the island.
They're proud of their musical talents and of the unprecedented revival of fiddling and Celtic music that has taken place on this
rugged island that is so geographically isolated, many Canadians don't even know where it is.
Perched at the outer edge of Canada's eastern seaboard it probes the vast Atlantic Ocean extending it's peninsulas and cliffs into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and northwards to Newfoundland. To the south, via the new causeway, lies the heartland of the Province of Nova Scotia.
The "pretty" Prince Edward Island lies to the west. This is not a "pretty" island, it is a rugged,
mountainous region, similar to the Scottish Highlands.
It is also an island of goats and craggy-faced men of French, Irish or Scottish immigrant stock with vistas of blue-black headlands, stormy skies and the sounds of hundreds of fiddlers.
It has fabled hikes like the 190-mile Cabot Trail, a mountainous road that winds around the island's north-eastern corner with crashing surf, cliffs, wildlife and, in autumn, dazzling forest colours.
Now, every October a nine-day series of concerts celebrating the history of Scottish music on the island takes place.
Known as the Celtic Colours International Festival, the annual celebration coincides with the changing of the seasons when the red maple, birch and cherry trees are at their fiery best. This year the festival will take place October 5 to 13.
Festival headquarters is the Gaelic College of Celtic Art and Crafts on St. Anns Bay, an hours drive northeast of Mabou. This rustic college offers instruction in Gaelic music literature and language and lures visitors to the campus with a variety of concerts and all-night ceilidhs.
Five separate commmunities hold five concerts across the island each night. During the day lectures and workshops are offered on weaving and pipe-making and similar ancient crafts. For those who enjoy the less formal gatherings, there are kitchen rackets (house parties) and ceilidhs in community halls.
There are also lots of opportuni-
ties to show off your spoon playing or step dancing for those who like to party or participate, and not just spectate.
Late at night, and on into the early morning, your foot- tapping will improve while keeping time to the infectious music, a music that will never die.
Its survival is part untamed heart and international cross-pollination; its future is assurred on this island corner of Nova Scotia. For further information, visit www. celtic-colours. com.
Dave Abbott's Travel Diary is heard on The Unforgettable 600 AM Radio twice dailv at 11:40 AM and 5:40 PM.
Travel and Festival Information
3636 Charlotte Street, Sydney, Nova Scotia (877-285-2321). The Cape Breton Tourist Centre has offices in Sydnev River (902-539-9876) and Port Hawkesbury (902 -625-420i). The nearest airports are in Sydney, (about an hour by car from Baddeck) and Halifax, three hours from the causeway. Festival prices for concerts range from CS12 to C875 and vary for workshops and other events.
Accommodations
There are plenty of B & B's (www.bbcanada.com) and quaint inns like Telegraph House & Motel, a home}', historic 19-room Victorian inn with a 17-room motel and 5 cabins. Built in 1860, the family owned and operated hotel once had Alexander Graham Bell as a guest. His room has been preserved and can be reserved.
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