East Coulee Springfest 2017

Every year on the first weekend in May, the East Coulee Springfest takes place.  This is a fundraiser for the East Coulee Schoolhouse Museum.  It is a small music festival that is very intimate and hosts a wide range of musical styles.  This year the 23rd annual took place on Friday May 5th and Saturday May 6th.  I have been attending for the last three years in a row with my daughters.  This year was the first time that Margarit was able to join us.  A number of other friends and family also joined in, including my Mom, my brother-in-law Shawn and his girlfriend Donna, and our friend Tanja.  Long time friend and Drumheller resident Frank and his wife Chris also came out to the show.

We headed out for the weekend and stayed in our trailer, which was still in storage from the winter, at our shop in East Coulee.  We weren't able to head out until after work and school on Friday, and I had to stop off at the gallery opening in Red Deer for my opening reception.  So we didn't make it over to the School and the Community Hall to see any of the bands on Friday night.  When things kicked into gear at noon on Saturday we all headed over.  There is a real mix of musical styles with some of the more folk and country oriented stuff earlier in the day, and then the heavier rock and blues stuff later in the evening.  A day pass gets you in and you can come and go as you please.  There are one or two bands playing all the time so you can just wander around and find something that you like.  It was smoking hot on Saturday, with the afternoon high approaching 30C.  Needless to say it was pretty warm in those small, crowded venues.  This festival is great for photographers as you can get really close to the stage and photograph all the musicians, with a great assortment of instruments.  It's also great for music lovers as the skill level is fantastic and there is something that appeals to everyone.
I really enjoyed Spitzee Post Band again on Saturday afternoon and have seen them at previous festivals.  We had to pick and choose when we could interrupt our viewing and slip away to the shop to have our BBQ supper.  After supper we were back and caught the Bluesland Horn Band, one of the highlights of the show.  They were an eight piece band full of energy and just did a super job, and as a result ended up selling a lot of CD's.  The last band of the evening was also a favorite... Derina Harvey Band from the east coast, playing a lot of irish and newfie drinking songs.  I'll be back again next year and I encourage any other music lovers to check it out...!