Small halls festival celebrates a decade

The P.E.I. Mutual Festival of Small Halls will mark its 10th anniversary this month.With 44 halls and more than 70 performing artists, thefestival will runfrom June 10 to 24.

The idea of celebrating small halls on P.E.I. came to life in 2008, and the first festival was held that year on six weeks' notice, but the event has grown from there.

Festival manager Debbie Atkinson described the small venues as "magical" in a conversation with Angela Walker on CBC Mainstreet.

"They're intimate, they're friendly and the hospitality is fantastic there."

They're going back to these small venues where they first got their start. Cynthia MacLeod

'Will be magical'

Three new halls will participate this year: King George Hall in Port Hill, P.E.I., Goose River Hall in the St. Peters Bay area and the Alberton Heritage Centre.

The festival will kick off in Indian River with performances by Irish Mythen and the Confederation Centre children's chorus.

"Those little voices in that huge, gorgeous hall will be magical. It's going to be a wonderful, wonderful night," Atkinson said.

Recreating past performances

To commemorate that history, the 2018 festival will recreate one performance from each of the past 10 years, including Richard Wood's square dance show the first year.

Cynthia MacLeod, an organizer and participating artist, said there will be an element of nostalgia in that.

"I feel like the festival really holds a special place in many artists' hearts because they're going back to these small venues where they first got their start."

Atkinson said the event also encourages Islanders to spend time in different areas of the province.

"People love to get out of the city and drive around the Island and go to these beautiful shows. I can't say enough about the music and storytelling and dancing."

Music workshops will be another attraction during the festival. They cover areas like fiddle and pipes, step-dancing and Highlandmusic.

A new workshop introduced this year will offer instruction about live looping, a technique that involves recording and playback at the same time.

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