August truly is festival season in Sackville, and this weekend brings another popular one.
The 3rd annual Levee on the Lake kicks off Thursday night with a sold out event at the Sackville Music Barn. In addition to ticketed shows most nights, Levee on the Lake features free concerts at Silver Lake on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and free workshops running throughout the day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The workshops are a special feature of Levee on the Lake, and festival co-founder Shelley Chase says the program is inspired by the desire to engage the audience with performers. Chase says instead of workshop performances common to folk festivals, she thought, ”what if we let the audience participate in learning something artistic?”
“That’s how we came up with our workshop structure, so that [the audience] can do a deep engagement activity with the artists that are performing in a non threatening kind of situation,” says Chase. “And if you’re having socio-economic concerns, those are gone too, because it’s free.”
The workshops on offer run the gamut from fiddling and step dance to foraging walks and bird watching. Ashley Sanipass is back with basket weaving, quill bracelet making, and beading. Chris Sanipass leads a workshop on Indigenous dance, and other workshops include Newfoundland folk songs, Celtic guitar and the history of square dancing.
“There’s different opportunities at different levels,” says Chase. “But even if you want to go to a class and not necessarily participate, but you want to watch an advanced fiddling or step dance class, you can do that too. We just want people to be up close and personal with all the different traditional arts that are happening in New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada.”
Levee on the Lake workshops are free, but space is limited in some events and registration is required. More information is available at leveeonthelake.com.
