I'm pleased to say that we have an almost complete line-up for this summer's 3rd Annual Princeton Traditional Music Festival. The following performers are confirmed and a few others not yet confirmed will join them:

Danielle Arcand, Eric & Betty Armstrong, Alex Atamanenko, Sue Averill, Mike Ballantyne, Banquo Folk Ensemble, Jon Bartlett & Rika Ruebsaat, Blackthorn, Flip & Zeke, Glen Esdale, Fraser Union, John Gothard, Great Big Sing!, Rosaleen Gregory, Tom Hawken, Stewart Hendrickson, The Irish Wakers, King's Shilling, Barry Luft, The Malarkeys, Mike & Nakos Marker, Lyn Melnechenko, Morgan and Graves, Orkestar Slivovica, Kate Gibson Oswald, David Parkin, Ed Peekeekoot, Psycho Acoustic Ceili Band, Steve Quattrocchi & Simon Trevelyan, Quicksbottom Border Morris, The Rabbleberries, Tom Rawson, Doug Reid, Chris Roe, Larry Saidman & Elaine Rutherford, Skweez, Slack Key Slim, Soft Focus, Steel Phoenix Rapper And Sword, Paddy Tutty, the Van Lidth De Jeude Family.

In addition to the much admired workshops held last year (Blues, French song, The Celtic Jam, the Shanty Session and Ballads), we plan to add workshops of mining and railway songs (Princeton was founded as a mining town and had for a time two railways passing through it), a Hawaiian workshop, a harp workshop (with four harps!) and a free reed workshop.

The Festival takes place as usual on two stages in the centre of Princeton, and begins, as last year, with a public street dance and an Irish ceili band. Saturday and Sunday are given over, between the hours of 10 am to 6 pm, to a potpourri of concerts, workshops, panels and jams.

Music won't just be found on the stages – mini-jams and guerilla dances are liable to happen anywhere in town culminating in a Saturday evening town-wide party.

The Festival is free, though it asks its audiences to help with donations. It is supported by the Town, the local District and by a federal grant from Heritage Canada, and is an all-volunteer festival – all the performers, the organizers and the volunteers do it for the love of the music.

Princeton, with a population of some 2,600, is just to the east of the Cascade Mountains, some 300 km from Vancouver. Its location (in the rainshadow of the mountains) means that it's hot and dry from May to September. Bring a hat or buy one of the Festival's! There is a daily bus from Vancouver and flights from Penticton some 75 minutes away. There are numerous motels in and around town (book soon!), and bed and breakfasts throughout the Similkameen valley. There are also campgrounds close to town.

Jon Bartlett, Coordinator