Day 2 - 186 -- Return of a Major Music Festival

Locally this past weekend, a major folk festival returned. Last year, Hurricane Arthur forced the cancellation of the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, an international festival of song-writing held in the tiny village of Canso, NS. While Rogers was born in Ontario, he spent summers in the Guysborough County area where Canso is located. This year saw 60 performers on seven stages over the three day event. Contrary to most years, the weather was drier than usual -- and a bit warmer. Canso sits out into the Atlantic and is often visited by rain and cooler temperatures, but not this year. Perhaps it was nature's way of apologizing for the early hurricane we had last year.

Rogers, a prolific song-writer, recorded and performed many wonderful songs. The lyrics told the stories of hardships, history and life events from across Canada , with many of these songs having a maritime flavour. He died at age 34 in a plane filled with smoke and then fire -- after an emergency landing. One can only imagine what more he might have created had he lived longer.

Canso has been inhabited since 1604 and was site of a British fort built in the 1700s. The area was part of many wars including those between Britain and France and the American Revolution. Fisheries and processing plants were the major economic processes until the collapse of many of the Atlantic fisheries in the past 20 years. The StanFest brings large crowds from the province and internationally, so plays an important role in the local economy. Canso is an hour and a bit away from where I live. Locally, we have lobster fishers and a tuna fleet. It is a difficult life, much like primary producers anywhere in the country.

I chose one song for today that highlights the loss of fishing incomes. The video shows many of the fishing fleets as well as the dilapidated fishing shacks and wooden boats where this way of life had to be abandoned. The lyrics tell a story of the difficulties with industrial trawlers yet maintains the dignity and pride felt by smaller fishers. Enjoy!

Make and Break Harbour -- Stan Rogers