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Fiddle Contra dances, and concerts: check out our Calendar.
ST PADDY’S FAMILY FIDDLE CONTRA DANCE at the MERVILLE HALL – Saturday, March 16th, 2024
On Saturday, March 16th, green clad dancers will flock to the wildly popular St. Patrick’s Contra dance at the Big Yellow Merville Hall. Join Paddy O’Furniture and the Irish Funtime Fiddlers as they pump out the jigs and reels for your dancing pleasure. All are welcome to attend this family friendly function.
There will be a brief Contra workshop at 7:00, right before the dance. Then, at 7:30, the Funtime Fiddlers leap onto the stage, strike the first notes and the gaiety begins. Singles can pair up with anyone during the dances which last about 15 to 20 minutes. In between the called Contra dances, we’ll play waltzes, polkas, swing tunes and maybe there will be a surprise act or two.
So, wear green and win a Spot Dance prize, kiss the Merville Blarney Stone and click your heels. The luck of the Irish will be with us at this kitchen party! Green music, green beer, green gills and green pickled eggs.
Doors open at 6:50, dance starts at 7:30pm. Cost is $10.00/adults, $5.00/youth (6 and under free) and you can come as a family for $22.00. FMI: [email protected]
ROBBIE BURNS FIDDLE CONTRA DANCE at the MERVILLE HALL
Hoot Mon! The Bard ‘o’ Scotland will be honoured at the Robbie Burns Contra dance on Saturday, January 28th at the tartan coloured Merville hall. There, the Fiddlejam Funtime Fiddlers will play for your dancing pleasure while hairy legged, kilted Scotsmen and Scotswomen swirl about the floor shaking their thistles and spurtles.
Guiding the dancers will be a phalanx of callers, with their clear and broguish instructions, keeping an eye on those who might need a bit more guidance in the midst of this brouhaha. You’ll want to have an extra helping of salted, raw oatmeal, with a splash of liquid barley, in the morning to give you the energy to carry on through the night.
Contra dances are similar to square dances and English country dances. No experience is necessary as the caller teaches each dance before it is actually done to the music. The caller then leads the dance while the band plays, so dancers are able to perform each movement to the music. Most people catch on quickly and soon the hall is full of prancing participants. You don’t have to come with a partner as dancers can pair up right there on the hardwood floor. If you wish, you’ll get a chance to dance with everyone on the floor.
There will be Virginia Reels, the Gay Gordon, waltzes, jigs and schottisches. Tasty helpings of “haggis” will be served and we’ll toast the Scottish Bard. You might even win a Spot Dance or “Best Dressed” prize. Wear your kilt and kick up your heels.
So, Saturday, January 28th, steer your Highland Shetland Pony in the direction of the Big Yellow Merville Dance Hall, right on the Old Island Highway, between Campbell River and Courtenay. Doors open at 7:00, dance starts at 7:30pm. Cost is $10.00/adults, $5.00/youth and you can come as a family for $22.00. FMI 339-4249. “Lang may yer lum reek”
The Wardens at the Merville Hall
Hang on to your Stetsons, folks, as Friday, January 20th, will herald the first concert at the Big Yellow Merville hall for 2023 with The Wardens, a Rocky Mountain-based band which doesn’t just sing about the land, they are part of it.
The stories and songs they sing about rise from the very land they’ve protected as True Blue Canadian National Park Wardens. With haunting, three-part harmonies and chilling tales, the band’s mountain music – blending folk, roots and western styles – reflects Canada’s protected wilderness areas. Celebrating the return of wild buffalo, wrangling grizzly bears, lonely nights on the pack trail and reflecting on an environment in crisis, a performance by TheWardens has been dubbed “the quintessential mountain-culture concert experience.”
Since 2009, when national park wardens Ray Schmidt and Scott Ward formed the band, they’ve been translating the high lonesome sound of the Kentucky hills to those of the Rocky Mountains. Ray’s vocals amplify the spirit of The Wardens‘ Mountain music while Scott evokes the intricate fingerstyle guitar of Gordon Lightfoot with the mystique and presence of Ian Tyson. His is the embodiment of Canadian authenticity.
Naturally, there will be some sizzling fiddling included with the inclusion of Deputy Warden, Scott Duncan, a sought after, touring musician who has played fiddle on stage with the band since 2017. He likes joining The Wardens on the road so much that he makes every effort to be there when needed. He is their Deputy Warden!
Having released 3 albums, including Sold Out at the Ironwood, in 2021, the band has performed widely across western Canada and in the US, from Alaska to California. They’ve shared the stage with Blue Rodeo, Pharis & Jason Romero and the late, great Ian Tyson.
This will be a concert for all ages and is steeped in genuine Canadiana. Bring your cowboy hats and an appetite for some funtime music, Western style. On Friday, January 20ththe saloon doors of the Big Yellow Merville hall will swing open at 7:00pm for a 7:30 show. For more background, check them out at The Wardens.
Tickets are $25.00 adult, $15.00 youth, at Long & McQuade, Courtenay; Blue Heron, Comox; and Music Plant, Campbell River. If not sold out, tickets at the door, too. You won’t be disappointed. FMI 250-339-4249.