All eyes will be focused on the Sorting Gap Marina for the rest of this week as our community’s biggest summer event, the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, hits the water once again for what promises to be another exciting three days of top-notch fishing competition.
Before our attention shifts to 20-pound bags, nightly concerts, and “Daytime Land,” however, organizers of the inaugural Fort Frances Folk Festival—held Saturday at the Little Beaver Snow Park—deserve kudos for staging a first-class event.
The crowd wasn’t huge, but 300-350 people of all ages and walks of life did turn out over the course of the afternoon and evening to catch the more than two dozen acts which took to the stage. That’s quite an accomplishment for a first effort—especially considering those who spearheaded bringing a folk festival to Fort Frances are still teenagers.
The festival was a perfect venue for local bands to introduce themselves to district residents who may not realize the depth of talent on the burgeoning music scene around here. It also was an opportunity, of course, for people to listen to groups they’d otherwise have to travel to the city to hear.
There’s been rave reviews from among those who attended, and the “out-of-district” acts who played here Saturday already are talking about making a return visit. No doubt word of mouth about the festival—and Fort Frances—already has started to spread.
The challenge now, as organizers of other district events know all too well, is to keep the momentum going. It takes a tremendous amount of time and commitment to stage an event of this magnitude, but clearly the Fort Frances Folk Festival is off to a solid start and those taking over the reins from Alex Marusyk and Joelle Barron are eager to make the second-annual one even bigger and better.
Fort Frances could use another major summer event to attract visitors to our community, particularly one which appeals to a segment of the population that may not care to attend a fishing tournament.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the folk festival organizers, we’ve taken a great first step in that direction.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
