Cape Breton music heats up with coming of summer
July is here, and hopefully the start of more seasonal temperatures will follow. Today is the last evening in St. Peter’s for the Cape Breton Kitchenfest celebrations at MacBouch. What a week it has been, with Kitchenfest offering guests some of the best music available. And tonight is no exception as Karen Beaton, Joey Beaton, Blanche Sophocles and Allie Mombourquette take to the stage from 710pm. Then on Saturday, the last day of Kitchenfest for this season will have a number of events taking place at the Gaelic College in St. Anns and a ceilidh being offered at the Highland Village.
With the end of Kitchenfest it does not mean that it is the end of great entertainment in the county, it is just the beginning. Visitors this summer will be able to enjoy live traditional music every night of the week. For a full lineup of times and events, please drop in at the St. Peter’s Visitor Information Centre. At the Visitor Center we have had many requests for the Celtic Colours International Festival program guide — well, they have arrived, so drop in and pick up your copy.
On June 24, Peggy Adams, matriarch of the Adams family of St. Peter’s, celebrated her 101st birthday. She enjoyed a luncheon held at the Richmond Villa, where family and friends from near and far dropped by to wish her a very happy day. Peggy operated the telephone office from her home on Grenville Street in St. Peter’s, taking over the business from her mother, for most of her life, until it closed with the coming of the dial phone in the 1970s. Peggy was and continues to be a strong part of village life in the rural community of St. Peter’s, sharing stories of the history of St. Peter’s and the events that affected the lifestyle of the community.
For a Cape Breton gem you will not want to miss: "The Bells of Baddeck," the new musical drama is the story of the great inventor Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel. Learn about this genius of a man and his accomplishments and that of his wife Mabel, who was one of the century’s most influential advocates for women, children and the arts, from kites and flights to schools and libraries. Mabel, who was deaf from childhood, never had the opportunity to heard the sound of the telephone ringing or the roar of the Silver Dart as it set out over Baddeck Bay, but she was very proud of her husband’s incredible inventions that would change the world forever.
Alexander Graham and Mabel might not have been born in Cape Breton but they fell in love our island and its people and they lived out the remainder of their lives in their adopted home of Baddeck. The show about the Bells is bound to be one of the best shows offered on Cape Breton Island this summer, and will run from July 3 to August 2 at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site on Chebucto St., Baddeck. The time of the shows will be 7:30 p.m., Tuesdays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays, with the final show being held on Sunday Aug. 2. Order your tickets now, so as not to be disappointed. For ticket inquiries or to purchase by phone, please call Etixnow: at 1-888790-1477 (Mon. thru Fri., noon to 5pm, ticket prices are $32 adults, $28 students/seniors (incl. HST)($1.99 e-ticket fee added at checkout). Free ticket is required for children 5 & under.