Vancouver Island MusicFest Celebrates 30 years!!!

 



By Keith and Heather Nicol

        Friday, July 12 offered a perfect night for enjoying a wide range of music at the opening of Vancouver Island MusicFest in Courtenay, BC.  Temperatures were ideal in the low 20 C’s and my brother and his wife from Victoria joined us again this year. By the time they arrived and we had a quick bite to eat we were just in time to see Second Moon – a fusion band from Korea that combines Irish , C and W music with that of their home country. Since we are a fan of Irish music we were impressed by their take on this style of music. 

                                                              We liked the fiddler from Second Moon

Next up were the Milk Carton Kids (MCK) who have been nominated several times for Grammy Awards and the crowd really appreciated their captivating harmonies and acoustic presentation. The MCK hail from Los Angeles and are just one of many groups playing at this year’s Vancouver Island Music Fest from the US. 

                                    The Milk Carton Kids received a well deserved standing ovation for their set

They were followed by Bela Fleck and his group – As We Speak. Speaking of Grammies – Bela Fleck has won 16 Grammy awards across an amazing 10 categories and in his set they played music for their most recent 2024 Grammy winning album titled As We Speak. Their music has a definite Indian influence and typifies the variety of world class music that Doug Cox puts together for MusicFest – so far in just 3 sets we have heard Korean, US Folk and Grammy award music flavoured from India. 

                                    Banjo player Bela Fleck has received an amazing 16 grammies for his music

And this was just the first night. There are 2 more days of music to come, so if you haven’t got your ticket come on down and listen to some of the best music the Comox Valley will feature this summer. With the weekend forecast to be hot and sunny you need to be prepared so bring plenty of sunscreen, water bottle (plastic), sun hat, low rise or high rise chair, tarp or blanket, flashlight, munchies, and sunglasses.   Again this year there will be a shuttle for those that don’t want to park near the Exhibition Grounds, the MusicFest site.  First Student shuttles will be travelling back and forth from the Driftwood Mall in Courtenay and the Comox Presbyterian Church in Comox. The shuttles will run until 1 am every evening and if that shuttle is full they will return for remaining riders. For more information see: www.islandmusicfest.com.  See you there.

                       As We Speak performed in the Concert Bowl in front a large appreciative crowd