Saturday, 28 May 2011

Trails, Tales and Tunes Festival , May 2011 - Part 2



After having so much fun earlier at the Trails, Tales and Tunes Festival in Norris Point (Gros Morne National Park), Newfoundland  we decided to head back up from Corner Brook to take in some other activities on May 26 and 27, 2011. On the way up we decided to hike into Southeast Falls (this is great short hike that many people just drive by). With the spring snow melt running off it was very impressive and the picture to the right doesn't capture the setting at all. First on our agenda was picking up some tips from Daniel Payne on the tin whistle. This guy seems to be able to play any instrument and it would be great to spend more than 1 hour picking up tips from him. Then we headed to Pittman's Singing Kitchen to hear the 4 members of the Bay St. George Folk Arts group and hear an usual instrument called an Alphorn. It is 3 m and 70 cm long and rests on the floor (see photo). Many people could try playing later on the deck of Pittman's Restaurant but I wasn't able to get it to play a sound! After supper we headed to the Town Hall to hear the Flummies from Labrador. Evidently "Flummy" is a kind of trapper's bread. This band played many songs of Labrador and they were joined at times by Bill Rompkey and Shirley Montegue.After that show there was a "jam" session at the Cat Stop which had sorts of musicians taking part. You could listen or if you could even play the 'spoons' you could join in. After spending a comfortable night at the Fisherman's Landing Inn (http://www.fishermanslandinginn.com/) we took part in the Burnt Hill hike which was capably led by Sheldon Stone. He had all sorts of interesting information to pass along including the time he was walking in this area when the wind was blowing at well over 120 km/hr and he said the " forest floor rolled like the ocean since the trees, roots and soil were being pulled up and down so violently from the wind". This hike is great for all ages and stages since it is short and takes less than an hour to do.The photo (below right) shows the fine view toward Neddies Harbour from one Lookout. After that hike we headed back to Corner Brook to get some information about the next festival-the Feather and Folk Nature Festival which is being held in Stephenville and the Codroy-Port aux Basques area from May 27-June 5, 2011. There is more information at http://www.springfest.ca/on this festival and the others to follow. Western Newfoundland is developing a fine package of festivals from mid May to late June and it is a good time to visit to see this area before summer arrives.

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