We are in the early planning stages but Northwest Fiddle Fest is coming back after an extended hiatus due to Covid. The event will be in late August 2025 at Camp Caledonia on beautiful Tyhee Lake. You can expect an amazing full schedule with daily workshops, community trad jam night, instructors concert, family dance and more. We hope to have a list of the amazing professional mentors line up very soon.
If you have ever attended this amazing event in the past you know you don't want to miss out in 2025. Save the date August 26-30, 2025
After an extremely successful spring BC tour of Tanglewood we have decided to do a couple more shows in Smithers in the fall before we retire the show. The performances will take place on September 22 and 23 with doors opening at 6:30 and the show starting promptly at 7pm. This will be your last chance to catch this amazing show before we move on to new and amazing things.
Tickets will go on sale soon. Follow us on Facebook for ticket release date.
We are doing everything we can to get the word out about our show. If you know someone who can help promote, maybe pass on this press release.
Valley Youth Fiddlers to Embark on Tour for the First Time in Six Years with Their Production of Tanglewood
Smithers, BC - The Valley Youth Fiddlers are proud to announce their upcoming tour featuring their latest production, Tanglewood. The tour will mark the first time in six years that the talented community-based ensemble of 65 musicians will perform on the road.
Tanglewood is a beautiful tale about the music of place, showcasing the sounds that have been shaped by mentors and the natural resonance of land itself. The story is told through the lens of woodland characters that inhabit Tanglewood. The Valley Youth Fiddlers' performance elements are carefully woven together to carry the audience along an imaginative journey through Tanglewood, featuring a playful mix of storytelling, animation, music, and dance.
Tanglewood features music written and arranged by renowned Canadian composers, including Lea Kirstein, Gordon Stobbe, Jaron Freeman-Fox, Oliver Schroer, James Stephens, and Ivonne Hernandez. The Valley Youth Fiddlers are excited to showcase this remarkable collaboration of well-known musicians and local fiddle families.
The tour will have seven stops, starting in Smithers, BC on May 5th, 6th, and 7th, and ending in Victoria on May 20th. Other stops include Prince George, Williams Lake, Vancouver, Courtenay, and Parksville.
“The Valley Youth Fiddlers are thrilled to take Tanglewood on tour and share our passion for music and storytelling with audiences across the province,” said Leslie-Jean MacMillan, Artistic Director of the Valley Youth Fiddlers. “We're excited to bring our community-based music and culture to a wider audience and showcase the talents of our incredible musicians.”
“We have worked so hard on these tunes, I can't wait to perform them live”, said Fiona Brienesse, 13 and a veteran VYF'er. “I love being on the road with all my friends; we have so much fun.”
The Valley Youth Fiddlers are known for their captivating performances, playing contemporary and old-time fiddle music and telling stories to the delight of audiences from Victoria, the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver, to Prince George, Prince Rupert, and Whitehorse.
Tickets for the tour are available on the Valley Youth Fiddlers website, along with more information about the tour and the Tanglewood production. Do not miss this chance to experience the enchanting music and storytelling of Tanglewood by the Valley Youth Fiddlers.
Tanglewood is a story about the music of place. It is about the sounds that layer one over another to make a unique musical landscape. These sounds have been shaped by the mentors that have brought their tunes to share, and by the natural resonance of land itself. The story is told through the lens of the woodland characters that inhabit Tanglewood. Hiccup, the flying squirrel, finds herself swept away in a terrible storm hanging desperately to a string attached to a boat-shaped kite. To make her way back to Tanglewood, she seeks the help of musical acquaintances she meets in unfamiliar surroundings: an owl, a fox, a lynx, a bear. Together, they must listen their way through forest and field—piecing together the sounds and melodies that echo Hiccup’s Tanglewood home.
Tanglewood is a playful mix of storytelling, animation, music, and dance. These performance elements are carefully woven together to carry the audience along an imaginative journey, a journey through Tanglewood. Tanglewood features music written and arranged by Lea Kirstein of the celebrated Toronto folk band Medusa, Order of Canada recipient Gordon Stobbe, Canadian Folk Music Award winners Jaron Freeman-Fox and Oliver Schroer, Juno nominated James Stephens, and five-time Grand North American Fiddle Champion and Juno winner Ivonne Hernandez.
Many thanks to Soniquinn Studios Studios for the excellent filming and video production. We would also like to thank James Stephens, who with our new equipment recorded the audio track.