Fiddle music lovers flocking to Chelmsford this weekend

Summer might just be the best time of the year for local music lovers.

Northern Lights Festival Boréal, River & Sky Music/Camping Festival, Up Fest and New Music Fest feature a variety of musical genres, while Jazz Sudbury taps into the jazz scene.

Lower on the radar — but nonetheless featuring high-quality music — is the 16th Annual Northern Ontario Fiddle & Stepdance Championship, set to take place this weekend at École Alliance St-Joseph.

The weekend starts with the preliminaries Friday evening, followed by the youth classes Saturday morning. Saturday evening features the contest winners, as well as accomplished fiddler Dan Mighton.

A native of Hanover, Ont., Mighton has been brought in for the weekend to accompany the step dancers and play in the house band. He's won numerous competitions, and has two albums under his belt.

The event's organizer, Sudbury native Paul Lemelin, will be accompanying Mighton, as well as emceeing the evening.

Lemelin is a champion fiddler in his own right. Last summer, he took first place in the open category at the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Competition, as well as in the open class at the Pembroke Fiddle Contest.

“I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you've never been to one of these,” Lemelin said. “It's a great family-oriented event and entertainment.”

The event is the only fiddle contest in Northern Ontario, he said.

“It's a nice treat to have an event held like this in our own backyard, without having to travel hours and hours and hours,” Lemelin said.

The Friday evening program begins at 6:30 p.m., Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., and Saturday evening at 6 p.m.

Tickets cost $30 for a weekend pass, $12 for Friday evening, $12 for Saturday daytime, and $15 for Saturday evening. They're available at G&P Variety in Chelmsford, Jett Landry Music or by phone at 705-618-7285.

Camping is available on-site at École Alliance St-Joseph.

For a full schedule of events, and more information, visit www.fiddleworks.net.