Bartown Days has grown with the years

What does Bartown Days mean to you? Memories of meeting friends at the block party, collecting Bartown beer mugs, watching the parade or dressing the kids for the doll carriage parade?

Over the last 40 years the festival has grown and changed when necessary, as venues became available, or weather interfered, or unfortunately, as in this year, locations needed to be entirely re-routed.

Moving Bartown headquarters to Indian Beach was not without its headaches, but has worked out well in the long run.

Tomorrow the festival kicks off with a strawberry tea in Leitches Creek and continues with daily events, ending next Sunday with great activities at Indian Beach.

Music of all kinds has always been a big feature of the festival, so check the schedule to see who’s playing. On Sunday at 6 p.m. various choirs and clergy will gather at the Cenotaph for an ecumenical service. The beautiful garden setting seems appropriate for this event, and donations will be accepted for the food bank. Seniors can enjoy a night of music and dancing at the North Sydney Fire Hall on Monday, and Final Cut will perform at the kickoff party on Wednesday after the parade.

A big musical event on Thursday at the Emera Centre is a Songwriters Circle from 7-10 p.m. A $10 charge will give you an evening of great local entertainment. Joe Costello, Alex Madsen, Colette Deveaux, Mark Boutilier, Robbie Simms and Justin Vallis are on the program. All proceeds will be donated to charity.

Joe Fiander will play at the Pensioner’s Hall from 8 p.m. to midnight on Friday, and the Rythum Cats at Indian Beach on Friday from 7-9 p.m. The Finney Brothers will play at Indian Beach on Saturday from 7:309:30 p.m., and a dance at the Emera Centre features High Society and The Privateers from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

These are just the musical events happening next week, many others are listed in the schedule, and, of course, all of these events lead up to the finale concert at the beach, starting at 5:30 p.m. Bring your lawn chair and enjoy Pretty Archie and J.P. Cormier, no stranger to most Cape Bretoners. You’re in for an awesome night of music, and the price is right — free. Imagine what you’d pay to see J.P. anywhere else. You can’t get any better than that, especially when followed by nautical fireworks.

Pick up a copy of the Bartown schedule at most downtown merchants or at the Bartown office at the Beach. Many thanks are due to the volunteers who make this celebration happen each year. It takes months of meetings and planning to organize a week’s worth of fun and it can be exhausting. We only see the actual event and think there’s nothing to it, but lots of headaches go into each detail so hats off to those few brave souls — we appreciate your efforts.

Enjoy the Festival, family reunions, strawberries, beaches, and whatever the rest of the summer has in store. Take Care.