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Elemental sounds

By Crystal Luxmore

Wind, water and wolves make for wild concerts.

Savor those warm summer evenings by soaking up music performed in nature’s wild amphitheaters.

The event: Fiddles on the Tobique
Where and when: Tobique River, Nictau, New Brunswick, June 19–21, 2009
The lowdown: Bill Miller, a third-generation canoe-maker, had the brilliant idea of getting famous fiddlers together to play Handel’s Water Music while he paddled them down the Tobique River from his farm to the town of Riley Brook. That was 15 years ago, and word-of-mouth buzz has since made this now annual event a darling of New Brunswick’s festival scene. Last year, 1,225 people paddled downriver to the exhilarating music of 125 fiddlers. Ten thousand spectators came to enjoy the weird and watery spectacle, stamping their feet to a wider repertoire of Celtic, bluegrass and folk fiddle tunes. When smaller boats of fiddlers pass by the large rafts of musicians, they change their tune, jamming for spontaneous sounds that bow to the river’s natural currents.
Don’t miss: A chance to camp out at Bill Miller’s farm in Nictau – that’s where most of the fiddlers stay too, so be prepared for some serious midnight jam sessions.

The event: Music in the Meadow Concert Series
Where and when: Mount Engadine Lodge, Canmore, Alberta, July 4 and 18, Aug. 15 and 29, Sept. 26, 2009

The lowdown:  In a cozy wilderness lodge set among the 3,000-m-high (10,000-ft) Rocky Mountains in Spray Valley Provincial Park for five Saturdays this summer musicians such as Kat Danser, known as the “queen of the swamp blues,” and folksinger Cara Luft will hold court. Each concert seats just 30 people, and if you overnight or come for dinner, you’ll be pulling up a chair to one of the few long tables in the intimate dining room and tucking into beef tenderloin with your fellow guests and the performer. Listen to soul-stirring strumming and watch for moose, elk and deer in the valley through the dining room’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

Don’t miss: The full Rocky experience: hiking up to Chester Lake in the early afternoon for a stunning view of the alpine scenery, then returning to the lodge to relax on the back deck with a glass of wine.

The event: Atlin Arts and Music Festival
Where and when: Atlin, British Columbia, July 10–12, 2009
The lowdown: Icy Atlin Lake in the snowcapped Coast Mountains gets its crystal-blue color from the tongues of ice melting off a vast field of glaciers that are part of the remote Atlin Provincial Park. Each summer, musicians, artists and filmmakers take over the tiny lakeside town of Atlin, population 500, for the Atlin Festival. Listen to some of North America’s finest country, blues, world and folk artists – from Juno Award-winning roots singer and flawless guitarist Colin Linden to “musician’s musican” Patty Larkin playing raw, organic folk on deconstructed instruments. Besides the music, you can participate in visual-arts workshops and try different styles of painting or even glassmaking, your inner Picasso ignited by the awesome setting.
Don’t miss: An eye-popping, bird’s-eye view of the glacier fields on a helicopter ride.

The event: Wildlife Symfaunique Concerts
Where and when: Montmorency Forest, Québec, Saturday evenings from Aug. 1–Sept. 5, 2009
The lowdown: In late summer, Montmorency Forest is filled with an acoustic symphony. After dark, music fans and outdoor enthusiasts head to the lakeshore and its tall balsams to listen as the night comes alive with the mellow sounds of crickets, moose calls and croaking frogs mingled with guitars, classical string instruments and even a didgeridoo. Anchored in illuminated canoes on different parts of the lake, the musicians imitate the calls of forest creatures. Their playful sounds bounce off the lake and into the forest.
Don’t miss: A chance to hike, fish and practice your French by lodging and dining at the Research Centre in the middle of the forest for the weekend.

The event: Haliburton Forest Festival
Where and when: Haliburton Forest, Ontario, Aug. 18–23, 2009
The lowdown: Hike a short forest trail in Ontario’s largest private nature reserve – along the way, handcrafted art exhibits made from natural objects prime visitors to tune in to natural beauty. You can sit in the amphitheater by the lake’s edge and listen as acoustic music floats from musicians on raft stages. Subtle changes occur as the wind dies down and the sun sets. This year, the lineup includes the Forest Festival Brass, a quintet made up of principal players from the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Don’t miss: The Wolf Howl after Thursday night’s performance. Walk with the group under the stars to the 16-acre wolf reserve, howl and wait for the calls to be returned.

Getting here

Fiddles on the Tobique, Nictau, NB, 506-356-2409, tourismnewbrunswick.ca/product.aspx?pid=2166
Music in the Meadow, Canmore, AB, 403-678-4080, mountengadine.com/events2.html
Atlin Arts and Music Festival, Atlin, B.C., 250-651-2189, atlinfestival.ca
Wildlife Symfaunique Concerts, Montmorency Forest, QC, 418-656-2034, ext. 2572, fm.ulaval.ca/PA/concerts.asp
Haliburton Forest Festival, Haliburton, ON, 705-754-2198, theforestfestival.com
New Brunswick Tourism, 1-800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca
Travel Alberta, 1-800-ALBERTA (1-800-252-3782), www.travelalberta.com
Tourism British Columbia, 1-800-HELLO-BC (1-800-435-5622), hellobc.com
Tourisme Québec, 1-877-BONJOUR (1-877-266-5687), www.bonjourquebec.com
Ontario Tourism, 1-800-ONTARIO (1-800-668-2746), www.ontariotravel.net

Crystal Luxmore is a freelance journalist and experienced festival-goer who lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Photo Credit: Fancy/ Veer/ Corbis