Shelter Valley shines on despite showers

Mandy Martin, The Cobourg Star
High winds and heavy rain pelted Shelter Valley Folk festival late Saturday afternoon. Shortly after 6 p.m., organizers declared Saturday night's main stage show, headlining Canadian musician Sarah Harmer, a no-go. But, as they say in the biz, the show must go on - and on it went, on Sunday morning.
Virtually every act booked for Saturday night rejigged schedules, some driving from as far away as Toronto and Kingston, to return to the stage Sunday. As for the festival ticket-holders and volunteers camped out on the hillside, many stayed through the windswept, rainy night, witnessing several tents blowing by. Some decamped to nearby homes - or billeted with locals who opened their homes to the visitors.
"When it rains, we shine," festival artistic director Aengus Finnan said more than once Saturday and Sunday.
The festival opened Friday with sunshine and an eight-act stage show culminating in Canadian music icon Murray McLauchlan. Mr. McLauchlan wowed the audience and he, in turn, was honoured with standing ovations.
Artisans, wellness practitioners and food concessions in the "village" adjacent to the main stage area welcomed visitors all weekend, the weather failing utterly to dampen enthusiasm.
When Saturday's rain intensified with wind, organizers began to think about contingency plans around 5 p.m. Shortly after 6 p.m., the decision was made to cancel the show for safety reasons and a sudden power outage reinforced the judgment.
"It's been an amazing weekend," festival business and production manager Katharine Partridge said near festival end Sunday afternoon, giving much of the credit to "our amazing volunteers."
"They have had smiles on their faces all weekend, pulling together, being wherever needed. On Saturday morning, we called a 7:30 a.m. meeting at the windmill. We were expecting maybe a dozen or so would turn up, given many hadn't made it to bed till 1:30 a.m. You know, a 180 people showed up!"
Two large tent awnings erected originally for shade served as effective audience rain shelters Sunday. With the main parking area entry and exit slicked with mud, organizers simply opened up the next field over for visitor parking.
Financially, the festival is fine, Ms. Partridge says.
"Because we had planned for bad weather. We said when we started planning this festival last September and October, we've had two beautiful, sunny weekends in a row, so we should be planning for what happens if it rains."
Promotion efforts through links with other folk festivals, on the Internet and a downtown Cobourg storefront are credited with boosting early bird ticket sales. Coupled with careful festival budgeting, the event "is not totally reliant on gate sales."
In fact, despite Sunday's non-stop rain, varying from light mist to outright drizzle, performers, festival attendees and workers were decidedly sunny. There were innovative fashion statements (skirts of green garbage bags, a T-shirt that read "I survived the Shelter Valley Blow of '06" and extreme takes on the concept of layering), muddy sloughs in high traffic areas and fogged glasses, but discomfort was not acknowledged.
"Sarah Harmer changed her plans in Toronto Sunday to come back (to play)," Ms. Partridge notes. "Alan Rhody as well changed a commitment. And Ndidi drove back to Toronto last night and is back today to so a show.
In fact, there weren't any no-shows for the weekend,
"Aengus (Finnan, artistic director) says if we take any one piece of this organization out, it (the festival) can't happen. For example, the parking crew, the food section, every volunteer is as equally important as the performers on the main stage. Someone last year described the festival as a quilt, pieced together and carefully crafted."
There will, of course, be a fourth annual festival.
"We've already had our first new volunteer for next year," Ms. Partridge announces. "(Musician) Ian Tamblyn signed up."