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| Friday night began with free music at the Riverfront Gazabo. Bridgewater's town crier opened the ceremonies and after a few brief words from organizers and political figures, local talents Darren Arsenault (with friends) and ECMA's Rising Star (and Yarmouth grown) Ryan Cook entertained us until dark. It was quite lovely sitting there next to the river under the street lights, beautiful music and the smells (and tastes) of fresh popcorn and apple cider. |
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| Bright and early Saturday morning, the festivities began. I was up at 6:15 and busy with my duties at the Market. But I did get time to take in what the street had to offer. I tried my hand at felting with the Waldorf kids, took in the beautiful hand-crafts at several vendor displays, got lots of info on how I can become more "green", ate free, hot 'n' buttery corn on the cob and listened to a little of the free music concerts at the Gazebo in the morning. |
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| One of my favorite displays was this one: local kids and artists are free-painting some park benches which will be scattered throughout town once they're varathaned. |
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| That evening, I didn't have to work. I was one of 150 guests who paid $20 for a 4 course dinner (with musical accompaniment - Pennybrook). Every facet of the meal came from a 100 mi radius. We started with a salad of roasted beets and goat cheese on mixed greens; this was followed by smoked haddock chowder (OMG! It was incredible!); main course was free-range roasted chicken "au jus", roasted cherry tomatoes, green beans and Potatoes Anna; dessert was a roasted peach topped with blueberries and maple infused goat cheese quark. Do I need to even mention how delicious and gorgeous it all was? Plus we all went home with cookies, a calendar and a tote bag. Later, there were a series of "green" films shown downtown at the Riverfront Gazabo. (But I was so pooped, I went home to my jammies and sofa.) |
Bridgewater is the shopping centre of the South Shore Nova Scotia, and can't compete with the beauty and quaintness of towns like Mahone Bay or Lunenburg. But I love my town. And I loved the show of community and joy that I found everywhere last weekend. Besides trying to become better citizens of the earth, I think we're also trying to elicit a sense of social cohesion and pride in our community.
Let's hear it for the little town!
8 comments:
Your town and this festival sound delightful. "Sitting next to the river under the street lights with beautiful music, experiencing the site, smells and tastes" had to be soothing and must have filled your heart with such joy.
That sounds like a wonderful weekend. There's nothing quite like a small town atmosphere for an event like that! Enjoy the upcoming long weekend. Pam
We wanted tickets for that dinner, but waited too long and they were sold out. We spent the day at the Hand Mowing Championships at the New Ross Farm, but we'll have to make sure we make it to the Festival next year. It looks great!!
Building community is important and when you are proud to be where you are is wonderful . Glad you had a great time and enjoyed the good food too.
That dinner sounds fabulous. Roasted beet salad, sounds wonderful and something I might have to try. I've never been to your town but you've got me thinking we need to visit.
Looks like a blast!
I do love these little neighborhood festivals! Your's looked pretty big and lots of fun. It's good to have them for a day out for all of the neighbors! Love Di ♥
It sounds and looks like a delightful experience. What a wonderful way to say good bye to summer.
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