Festival Background
The Annual Stan Rogers Folk Festival (aka, Stan Fest) is held in Canso, NS. This was the festivals 23rd year. The festival is in honor of Stan Rogers who was a Canadian singer / songwriter with a commanding baritone voice. Stan died in his 30’s during an airplane crash. His friends and family continue to honor him with the annual festival.
The festival starts with a kick-off party on Thursday night and music ends Sunday night, so three and a half days of music. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, performances on the main stage start at 7:00 pm. Prior to the main stage activity, workshops and performances take place starting at 11:00 a.m. and running until 6:00 p.m at one of three smaller stages. The main stage performances last until mid-night. Late night music occurs in the Arena (normally an Ice Rink, which is on site) until a little after 1 a.m. So, you will get a full course of music before the festival is over.
Inside the festival brochure, the concert producer had a short write up about his connection to the festival. I think he correctly summed up the festival vibe by stating ” This weekend you will experience Canso’s legendary friendship and hospitality, world-class music onstage and at hundreds of campsites, great food, a diverse artisan village, beautiful scenery and so much more.”
My Journey
After leaving Cape Breton, I drove to Canso, established as a fishing village over 400 years ago. With the decline of fishing, the village has gone through hard times. It currently has a population of around 500 people.
Before reaching Canso, there were a number of signs posted along the road to attract the attention of those driving to the concert.
One of the signs noted a “spirit” stop for festival beverages. 
I pulled into the Authentic Seacoast establishment and was told that they were not open yet. Hmm? An hour later, I left having completed a tasting, a tour, and “spirit” purchases. The gentleman at Authentic Seacoast noted that Stan Fest was notorious for bad weather (rain, fog and cold). This year the festival organizers had moved the festival date to later in July in hopes of having better weather.
Upon arrival at the festival site, I set up camp. You can purchase on-site camping as a ticket option. With everything in place, I pulled out a camp chair and enjoyed a beer. It was not long before my neighbors asked me to join them at their site for drinks. What a great group. The first night it was a brother (Mike) and sister (Alyssa). The next day, three of their friends arrived. They all grew up in the Cape Brenton area. Mike and his girlfriend now live in Halifax. The sister and two friends still live on Cape Brenton. I really enjoyed their company throughout the festival.
A pic of my neighbors:
A pic of camp site, with Mike and Alyssa camper to the left of the van.
Thursday night, Mike, Alyssa, and I went to the kick-off party in the Arena. Three bands played and the crowd was feeling festive. Everyone was dancing and having a great time. My neighbors headed back early and I left after the music finished.
While walking back to the campsite, there was a lady (Carol) walking in front of me. She was zig-zagging her way along. I made a police siren sound and she stopped and turned around. I told her that I was pulling her over since she could not hold a straight line. We both had a good laugh. When we arrived at her car (she arrived late and did not set up tent yet), I noticed it had Ohio plates. Having grown up in Ohio, we shared a few stories. More on this later in the blog.
My days were spent cycling in the morning, catching shows / workshops in the afternoon and then the main stage each night. The weather was great during the whole event and the music was outstanding.
Some pics from the music fest and cycling the area:
The main festival takes place in a valley. Camping is available in a ridge above the valley or in the valley close to the stages. Tent camping is in the the valley. If you have an RV, I recommend staying in the ridge area. If the weather does turn bad, entry and exit is better above the valley. Showers are located in the ridge campground. They are coin operated. Food and beverages are available in the festival area.
This panorama picture is taken from the ridge and shows the festival layout.
Sewage hook ups are not available. So an entrepreneurial mind had this idea the morning of the festival close.
I had a great time and highly recommend Stan Fest.
A story – which I will title as The Sailboat:
I mentioned above that I “pulled” Carol over the first night of the festival for not holding a straight line. The next morning before heading out on my bike, I stopped to see how the night went sleeping in her car and to see if she needed help putting her tent up.
When I arrived, she had just finished the tent set up and was transferring camping equipment from her car to the tent. After helping her finish the transfer, she noted that the night in the car did not go to well and a nap was in order. However, she recommended that we set up chairs at the main stage while good spots were available. She had two camp chairs and said I could use one of them, versus going back to my van for one of my chairs. After placing the chairs, I headed out for a ride and she was nap ready.
That night we met at the chairs and enjoyed the main stage music. We did the same on night two. We got to know those sitting next to us during breaks in the music.
The third day, Carol visited my camping area. I was having drinks with the neighbors. After introductions, she joined us for a beverage. During discussions, she mentioned that she lives in Ohio for 6 months of the year and Belize for the other 6.
She also noted that she met a gentleman earlier in the day who is from Canso. The gentleman said he has a sailboat and spends time in Canso during good weather and then sails to Belize for the remainder of the year. Given my bike rides took me by the harbor, she asked me if I had seen any sailboats. I highlighted that there were 3 really nice sailboats in the harbor. She then headed out for the day.
That night she did not show up for the main stage seating. The folks sitting around us asked me what happened to Carol. I stated “A Sailboat!!”.
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