That left me with a spare ticket and after speaking with Julie I asked our friend Dianne. Dianne's a former (French) teacher who we've seen on many occassions she has patience and a sense of humour and she said she'd be delighted. We discussed what day/s we'd go and prepared salads to take and enjoy rather than spending the money on the food that would be on site.
Even better (for me) Dianne was happy to be the driver. So we loaded her car with our picnic dinner, chairs, blankets et al and travelled the 45 minutes to Orillia, the town where the festival is held. There isn't much that is good about me having Multiple Sclerosis but I do have, and need, a Disability Parking Concession. Luckily there was disabled parking near the entrance to the festival which we took advantage of.
Main gate and the entry to Mariposa was similar to most of the festivals I have attended but one thing that there was far less security than is apparent in Australia. This led to a very friendly laid back feeling which was there in abundance the whole of the time I was there. We wandered in, with Dianne doing most of the carrying, and set up our chairs with the crowd that was steadily building in front of the main stage.
As we settled in to a good viewing position I noticed some similarities (music and happy people) but some differences, (no covered seating, no alcohol outside the bar area and smaller stages). None of those things mattered as I was here to experience Mariposa!
We had missed the first act on the main stage but as with other festivals the acts are often heard opn other stages over the weekend so that wasn't a huge disappointment. From then on we had a great night, the weather was sunny and warm, the company good and the music was excellent.
While all on the Friday night bill were good the highlights for me were Elisapie Isaac, http://www.elisapie.com/index.php?langue=en&page=biographie Jim Bryson & the Weakerthans Band and Josh Ritter who finished the night. http://www.mariposafolk.com/festival/schedule/?subject=lineup&artist=320 The finale was an amazing event not only for the performance which was amazing but for the swarm of every type of bug that had been attracted to the stage lights.
What a night! Still buzzing long after I made it home to 460 Sarah.
When sleep came it was good and I woke just before 8am. Quick breakfast and down to the wharf area for the Antique and Classic Boat Show http://www.acbs.ca/Shows/Boat-show/
Wandered along two of the three wharfs and this is some of what I saw.....
And I couldn't help noticing.............
Mind you a CuRVy with the Aussie flag is very cool too..
Enough of the dreaming, there were things to do, people to see and music to enjoy so it was back to MARIPOSA!!!!!!
We were back on the site and after a little bit of a hassle with finding a suitable parking place we headed in for more entertainment. Today was going to be slightly different to yesterday and we started by marking our place by putting a blanket down in the most suitable position for the evening's frivolities. It amazes me me to see an area marked out with about 1000 chairs and blankets with hardly a person to be seen but I guess the MCG on the Friday before the Grand Final looks equally empty.
There was plenty going on in the other areas...
http://www.mariposafolk.com/festival/schedule/?subject=schedule&_year=2011
Saturday gave us an opportunity to see a bit more of the festival area which takes place in Tudhope Park on Lake Couchiching. All in all there are 9 stages which host a variety of entertainment and activities. Neither Dianne or 1 were up for the belly dancing, the yoga or even the songwriting but we were in Canada and Mariposa is a folk festival so we stopped for a while at the Estelle Klein Stage. As I said earlier there are no covered areas but when the day is nice and you can sit with this is a ceiling who needs a roof....
Each of the stages had 4 performers who shared their songs that were aimed at a particular theme i.e. Lightfoot songs, Canadian Lovesongs etc so you had the opportunity to hear a lot of performers without moving too much. Which member of our group was happy with that? No prizes for that one!
Another thing that happened on the main stage on Friday night was the guest artists that would sing a song or two in the interval while the roadies changed the bands equipment over. Surprise, surprise there was a guitar player from the Bega Valley!! Daniel Champagne amazed the crowd with his guitar style.
I must admit I am a bit worried about Canadian roadies. Not nearly enough black clothing, not enough enough plumbers ***** showing , no smokes and hardly a tattoo to be seen. What is going on???? But I guess it is a folk festival! And I am in Canada....
Lunch was in the shade of the trees with great musical accompaniment and my compliments must go to the chef's for their food preparation....
And to the organisers their ambience. It was all nice!!!! But we were not here just to have a good time lazing in the shade of a tree eating a selection of salads and smoked trout, we had listening to do!!
With our hunger satisfied we were off to the Bohemian Stage where we (and most of the audience) were spellbound by the guitar performance of Daniel Champagne
I don't know whether it was him, his guitar teacher of maybe that special Wyndham Wedgie atmosphere that rolls through the hills around Bega but his guitar playing is SPECIAL! But I was disappointed that his profile didn't mention the doyen of festivals - Cobargo! One interesting thing and I don't think this photograph shows it well enough was the look of amazement on the face of Wendell Ferguson who was the host of the stage. I don't think he or any others watching (including me) had seen or heard anything like Daniel.The next band up were the Idlers who hail from Newfoundland. Now a band from Newfoundland probably wouldn't seem all that unusual at a folk festival. Newfoundland has that folky sort of reputation. But The Idlers http://idlers.ca/ are not a usual band.
And there was no way people could resist dancing. And that even, sort of, included me!
I thought it was dancing anyhow or maybe it was just swaying. But it was fun!!!!!
After all that energy we returned to the area we'd marked out and set up the chairs in preparation for the evening's entertainment. http://www.mariposafolk.com/festival/schedule/?subject=schedule&_year=2011&type=41
Everone that appeared was good but the highlight for me was without doubt Emmy Lou Harris. www.emmylouharris.com/ I'm sure the phrase "aging gracefully" was written for her. She even made the bugs landing in her cup of tea seem special. All in all it was another great day and great evening with good company. I slept very well that night!!!
Understandably lazy start to Sunday, which was very nice. Still reading a very difficult book by Yann Martel (Beatrice and Virgil) but I think I am seeing the first glimmer of dim light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel. Sunday started with blue skies and it was forcast to be a nice day and the lovely summer we had been promised was turning out to be true.
Today my focus was going to be turning to sport. Cycling, to be precise. No, I wasn't going to be making a late charge in the Tour de France nor even announcing my imminent return to Australia to prepare for the "Sydney to the Gong". No, I was going to be doing to best these days, watching!!!
Our friends Greg and Marianna were going to be competing in a Mountain Bike race http://chicoracing.com/2011-mountain-bike-schedule/ontario-cup-series/plastiglas-ontario-cup-5/overview-and-schedule.html Marianna (teacher) and Greg (good bloke) did an exchange to Canberra last year and they and their daughters Caralina, Maea and (Aussie) Julia became close friends during their stay in Australia and our stay in Canada.
There is one drawback. They come from a place called COLLINGWOOD!!! However it isn't that Collingwood but the Canadian version. Greg does say he is a Magpie supporter but I guess that I can put that transgression down to Canadian naivety.
Anyhow back to the race... It was held at the intriguingly named Buckwallow Cycling Centre http://www.ecclestonecycle.com/layout_images/cycling_articles_folder/buckwallow_betterthanbefore.pdf
which was from all I had read a very challenging course. It was challenging for me to find and after I found suitable parking had parked I had missed Marianna's race. I had also missed Greg's start but was there in time to see him in action and to attempt to capture him in full flight. I think I have a bit of work to on my action shots But I am a little bit better on shots like this........
and even shots like this
and what do you think Julia will be doing sooon?
A great weekend, now time for a rest.............maybe!!!!
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