The closing weekend for the Harrison Festival offered more great Art Market finds, informative workshops and fantastic beach stage music.  Some outdoor performance highlights were Annabelle Chvostek’s catchy tune ’I Left My Brian’, Ryan LeBlanc effortlessly playing a guitar, harmonica & box drum all at the same time and North to Canda’s all star Gospel & Blues ensemble including Diana Braithwaite, Chris Whiteley, Leon Bibb, Kenny Wayne, Donald Ray Johnson & Russell Jackson.

The Hall concerts continued to deliver exceptional musicianship and contagious energy.  Friday nights performance by Spanish band El Puchero del Hortelano offered a fun mix of Flamenco and Rumba with Funk, Pop and Rock.  Mary Jane Lamond’s Saturday performance had the audience completely wrapped with her spell binding vocals and Gaelic melodies.  Sundays performance with award winning harmonica player Carlos Del  Junco was an excellent close to the Festival.  His ‘overblow’ technique paired with a mix of Blues, Jazz and Latin had the whole house shaking with rock concert amplification.  

Overall, this years Festival was a huge success both artisticly and financially - the latter of the two being all the more important with continued cuts to provincial and federal arts funding.  Missed out on the 2010 line-up, no worries - the Festival will be back again next year from July 8th to the 17th.

The morning began with an Acadian Step Dance workshop in the Memorial Hall expertly instructed by the PEI band Gadelle.  All along the waterfront stretched the many tents of this years vibrant art market.  Artisans from all of BC displayed their unique handmade art and crafts.  From jewellery to drums, pottery to organic health and beauty products, this weekend market offers a diverse selection of high quality one of kind finds. 

In the early afternoon the beach stage concerts got underway with the first of four free concerts including The Tabla Guy, Gadelle, Shearwater & Chic Gamine.  Audience members escaped the heat of the day under the Festival’s staple willow tree and the music from the stage got a number of people on their feet and dancing. 

With the cool evening breeze came the sizzling hot rumbas of Poema Flamenco.  This Vancouver tablao style troupe is well seasoned in flamenco and gave an intensely rich and authentic performance.  The movements of flamenco bailaora Karen Pitkethly mesmerized the crowd with stunning grace and command.  If you missed this incredible show, no worries - you can catch this dynamic group in action every Wednesday and Sunday at the Kino Cafe Flamenco Bar in Vancouver.