The BC Old Time Fiddlers Branch No. 1 will be celebrating 57 years in Prince George during their eighth annual Spring Jamboree, which is a three-day event that goes Friday, May 2 to Sunday, May 4.
The celebration includes a family dance on Friday night and two days of workshops for fiddle, guitar and banjo on Saturday and Sunday with a concert starring three-time Canadian Grand Masters fiddle champion Mark Sullivan performing on Saturday night at Knox Performance Centre in downtown Prince George.
“We bring in few of the bigger names as instructors and performers and then we offer lessons for two days,” Beth Bresette, past-president of the BC Old Time Fiddlers, said about the upcoming event.
“This year we have four levels of fiddle and guitar and banjo. These are always well attended. So this year’s headliner is Mark Sullivan and he’s one of the top fiddle players in the country. It will be a great concert.”
The BC Old Time Fiddlers have always had a strong presence in the Prince George community that has continued to flourish throughout its 57-year history.
Bressette has a long history with the group that saw her Dad, Dave Bowman, as one of the earliest members and her mom Bess, very involved as a volunteer throughout the history of the club.
“Throughout all these years the weekly jams and monthly dances have continued,” Bresette, said. The non-profit group take summers off because so many people go on holidays and the pandemic stopped them for a time as well but there’s always been interest from young and old and so sessions are always full of enthusiastic musicians.
The weekly jams, where everyone is welcome, sees fiddlers and guitar players come together and there’s always someone on piano to round out the sound.
There’s between 25 and 30 people in attendance every week without fail.
Throughout the regular fall through spring season there’s monthly family dances that have recently seen an increase in popularity.
And the BC Old Time Fiddlers, 67-members strong, offer lessons that help bring in the youth and there’s a bursary that goes out to a young person as well, Bressette added.
“One thing that has changed over the years is there is a wider range of ages now,” Bressette said. “We have so many children right up to seniors and as far as I remember it always seemed to mostly be seniors during earlier years but maybe that I was because I was so young.”
In the group back in the day there were a lot of women who learned how to play fiddle later in life, including her, Bressette added.
“Now we seem to have a lot of working people who bring their children,” she said.
“Now the jams see musicians between the ages of 18 and 75 or so, and the dances are family-friendly with an ice cream treat served instead of alcohol and it’s worked out really well. During the dances we do a lot of call dances like the Virginia Reel.”
Years ago the group would host highly competitive contests.
“They were always very popular and it was absolutely packed but the interest has waned so now we hold Jamborees instead,” Bressette explained how the group had to adjust over the years.
“And we continue to do playouts in the community - that's what we call it when we perform. We visit seniors homes, seniors activity centres, various clubs around town, we go to the Farmers’ Markets, the Golden Age Socials and fundraisers like the ALS Walk and the Salvation Army Kettles.”
For tickets to the Jamboree activities and all the details visit https://bcfiddlers.com/branches/prince-george/pg-workshop-and-concert/.
