The 2018 edition of Lockeport’s Harmony Bazaar Festival of Women and Song features a more streamlined lineup, compared with past festivals. This year, the festival will be going to a single day of performances, rather than an entire weekend.
This new, leaner format is enabling Harmony Bazaar, the only women’s festival in Atlantic Canada, to move forward into its 13th year.
“We’re really excited,” says Garrett Chetwynd, a member of Harmony Bazaar’s board of directors. “We think we have an amazing lineup, and it’s sure to be a great Saturday.”
Harmony Bazaar will run from noon until 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 28 at Seacaps Memorial Park. This year’s headliners are Port Cities and Rachel Beck.
Port Cities — an East Coast band featuring Breagh MacKinnon, Carleton Stone and Dylan Guthro — released their self-titled album in 2017. That same year, they won five Music Nova Scotia Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, Digital Artist of the Year, Group Recording of the Year, Pop Recording of the Year and Recording of the Year.
Rachel Beck, from Charlottetown, P.E.I., released her self-titled debut solo album in March. Earlier this year, Beck’s single Reckless Heart reached number 1 on the CBC Music charts.
Local talent fills out out the day’s lineup of performers: Patricia Watson Quintet, Amy Grant, Naming the Twins, Kendra Gale Band, Judi Cleveland, Merrie Howe, Jessica Jurgenliemk, Clara Jurgenliemk, Triple Trouble and more.
“Our whole motto for this year is celebrating our roots,” Chetwynd explains. “It’s easy, sometimes, to lose track of where you came from. But I think it’s really important, especially with the great musical culture that we have here in Shelburne County, to celebrate that, as well. So we’ve incorporated a lot of local artists into our lineup this year.”
A new highlight of this year’s festival is that Lockeport’s theatrical troupe, the Locke’s Island Players, will be performing a play. “It’s always good to form new community partnerships, and to encourage other forms of art within the community,” Chetwynd says. “So we’re really excited to be working with them.”
Harmony Bazaar grew out of the Shelburne County Women’s Fishnet, an organization created around rural kitchen tables to support women and families during the downturn in the traditional fishing industry.
Performers who graced the Harmony Bazaar stage in years past included Rita McNeil, Irish Mythen, Michelle Wright, Serena Ryder, Suzie McNeil and Heather Rankin.
Harmony Bazaar’s board of directors underwent some big changes this year. The current board is a blend of new and experienced members, all interested in promoting female artists and song.
With so many volunteer board members taking on a multitude of new roles, Chetwynd says, it’s a good idea to stay with a one-day festival, at least for the foreseeable future.
“There’s always room for growth, and we’d love to bring it back to a full weekend event,” Chetwynd says. “It’s good to start off with the one day and work back up and see what the public interest is. If we can fit all kinds of great music into one day, then that may be a better fit for the community than stretching it out over multiple days.”
For information on this year’s Harmony Bazaar lineup, to buy tickets online or to watch videos or listen to audio clips by the performing artists, visit www.harmonybazaar.com.
Tickets cost $40 and are also available at the Town Market in Lockeport and Gosbee’s Sporting Goods in Shelburne.
