music festivals

Hi John. Yes, I go to several camps each year. I consider them amazing vacations….you get there and stay there for the time allotted. Everything is there that you love, …music, great instructors, good food, new friends, challenges in learning…maybe learning to play by ear..: >), jamming and a new place to explore. I go to Old-Time week at Jay and Molly’s Ashokan camps in the NY Catskill mountains…about 2 hours north of NYC. This camp is in mid August. Registration is now open. Check out Ashokan.org This will be my 11th year in going to this camp. Check out the website and see all the camps they offer during the Summer. I have not been to Clifftop but I hear it is fun. I like an organized camp…with lodging, food and fun teachers and lots of things to do…that is why I love the Askokan camps so much. You might check out this camp in Asheville, NC. I use to go there but now go back to Ashokan. Swananoa Camp, Warren and Wilson College. http://www.swangathering.com
Alasdair Fraser…amazing Scottish Fiddler….has camps during the Summer all over the world…two are in NoCal but are currently booked with no openings. Camps are great…it’s just picking one that suits you for the way you want to travel, camp and learn. See you at camp. Jay’s camp: ashokan.org
Stay tuned. Diane in SoCal

Hi John and Diane, the National Fiddle Contest is the 3rd Full Week of June and is a hoot with everything from a week of great Oldtime music and the National Fiddle Contest. The Oldtime music is in Stickerville a part of the Weiser Campground and happens up to a week before the completion. At that point the music shifts to the popular Texas Contest Fiddle style with some of the best players in the world in the campgrounds. And the Port Townsend Fiddle Tunes is also awesome with jamming 24/7 and lots of classes, workshops and performances. Have fun and you will get really charged up when you experience them. Roland Forum Moderator

Hi, John. I used to visit these kinds of events, and enjoyed them greatly. There is something about being removed from your daily surroundings and jamming non-stop at these things. I don’t get a chance to get out to these very often these days, but I would highly recommend it. It can really inspire you to pursue more music.

C

For Scottish style, I highly recommend the Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle camp, held on a beautiful island in the harbor. I attended last year for the first time and it was great fun. Learned a lot and the people were so warm and fun-loving. It’s a camp for all ages. My beginner classes were a bunch of over 50 year olds. The advanced players were mostly young.
Carole

Hi Carole…I’m an old New Englander too….LOL. Brought up in CT and RI. Now reside in San Diego, Ca. I have heard of the Boston Scottish Fiddle Camp and would love to go to that as well someday. I now attend Jay Ungar’s Southern Week in mid August…they are signing up for the camp now. Ashokan.org
If anyone is on the West Coast and looking for great Scottish camp….Alasdair Fraser has two in NoCal…and he has a 3 day workshop with Nataile Haas up on Whidbey Island (off the coast of Seattle, WA.) in mid January that the Northwest Scottish Fiddlers put….I go to that camp in the Winter…it’s awesome. A small camp that fills up fast and is so much fun with Alasdair. We have learned 5 tunes each time that I have gone in the past three years.
I highly recommend it.
Stay tuned. Diane in SoCal

Hanneke Cassell is scheduled to teach at the Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle Camp Aug. 14-20. I dearly wish I could go, but a family event will interfere. I have become quite attached to both Casey and Hanneke as a result of watching their videos repeatedly and would follow them around if I had time and money.
Carole