This post is going to be very different from what I thought it would be originally. I had fully intended to write exclusively about the merits of going on a road trip to attend a music festival. But, it didn’t work out that way.
Summer is a great time to enjoy outdoor concerts. We are fortunate that in Canada there is almost a limitless number of outdoor music festivals going on across the country that would be worthy of a road trip. There are outstanding events literally taking place from coast to coast. Starting in the west there is the Vancouver Folk Festival, the Edmonton Folk Festival, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Northern Lights Festival Boréal in northern Ontario, the Ottawa Bluesfest and the Mariposa Folk Festival in central Ontario; Festival d’été de Québec in Quebec City, and the Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Nova Scotia. Just to name a few.
My message is this, think about getting in the car, or on a plane, and going and checking one of them out. Or, think about attending an event in another country. If you are retired and have lots of free time, why not use some of that time to do something that you may not normally consider doing? Of course, in the summer of 2020, this comes with a large COVID-19 caveat!
Our Big Musical Road Trip
We regularly attend events in Canada, but our own really big musical road trip took us to the Dominican Republic in November 2019. We attended a five-day event that took place at two adjoining resorts near Punta Cana. The event was hosted by the legendary John Prine, and called the “All the Best Festival”. Ah ha! You have probably figured out why I felt compelled to write about this particular event at this particular time. John Prine has recently passed away after contracting the COVID-19 virus. A tremendous loss, but we had the distinct pleasure of seeing him one last time. Along with John, we got to see: Emmylou Harris, Nathaniel Rateliff, Brandi Carlile, Steve Earle, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Lucinda Williams, and a number of lesser-known acts, who were outstanding in their own right. Amongst them was Tom Hanks’ wife Rita Wilson. I didn’t see Tom wandering around the property, so he probably wasn’t th
All in all, we had an outstanding time. The music was incredible, the weather was spectacular, and the accommodation and food were top-drawer. None of us had ever done anything like this before, but we all agreed that we had made the right decision when we made the big leap and chose to spend the money on this excursion. We would all do it again in a heartbeat.
Other Types of Musical Events
The “All the Best Festival” was what would be referred to in the music industry as a “Roots” musical event. This generally involves singer-songwriters performing their own tunes. This may or may not be your preferred musical genre, but it should not dissuade you from attending an event like this. It’s always good to push the boundaries of your musical comfort zone. That said, there are all kinds of other types of musical events going on in Canada and other parts of the world that are worthy of a visit.
The Montreal Jazz Festival is one that immediately pops to mind if you are into Jazz. The country is awash in outdoor jazz festivals every summer. The Love-goddess and I once attended the great Halifax Jazz Festival.
If you are into classical music, there are other events that likely be of interest to you. For anyone living in Ontario, or who doesn’t mind travelling a little further, there is the “Festival of the Sound” event in Parry Sound every summer… classical music in cottage country, lovely.
And, I’m not suggesting that you travel just for multi-day musical events. Why not attend a one-off concert at an interesting or special venue? The Love-goddess and I have now twice attended an opera at the Wiener Staatsoper opera house in Vienna. The first time we did this we bought standing-room tickets at the last minute. These cost us the princely sum of three euros each. We got to see Otello. The second time we attended, we purchased seating for Salome in advance.
You could plan a trip that wraps around a specific musical event, or you could spontaneously incorporate one into a preplanned trip. The last time we were in Vienna we got to see the Vienna Boys Choir perform with the magnificent Lipizzans White Stallions of the Spanish Riding School. This was a spontaneous choice made when we read that the event was taking place while we were in town.
Other Types of Cultural Road Trips
I have been going on here about how much you might enjoy travelling to attend a musical event. But, there are lots of other cultural events that you might enjoy attending. When was the last time you attended a major theatrical production in another city or province? We regularly go to Stratford, but it is only a half-hour drive so we don’t consider it a major outing. However, we also regularly head down to Niagara-on-the-Lake to hang out for a few days to catch productions at the Shaw Festival.
How about a trip to take in some art at one of Canada’s many wonderful art galleries? Have you ever been to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario? It is home to Canada’s finest collection of Canadian artists. Or, how about planning a trip to Europe to visit some of the world’s great art galleries; the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Prado and the Reina Sofia in Madrid, The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Tate museums in London, and the Uffizi and the Accademia in Florence?
What about attending a literary Festival? The CBC has produced a detailed list of literary events across the country. Check it out (https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadawrites/a-guide-to-canadian-literary-festivals-1.4723741).
There are all sorts of possibilities. Give it some thought.
But I Don’t Know Anything About… Music, Theatre, Art, etc.
So, you don’t know anything or are presuming that you don’t know enough about any of these art forms to justify going on the road to take in one of these cultural events. No problem! None of us are born knowledgeable, cultural aficionados. If your experience with them has been fairly limited at this point, retirement is the perfect time to expand your horizons and begin to develop some new interests.
The easiest way to develop some working knowledge is by doing some research. I’ll use art as an example. As you may have read in previous posts, Rick Steves is my go-to travel guru for Europe. Not only has he written a huge number of great travel books about its many destinations, but he has penned a few about several other important travel issues as well.
One of my favourites is his book entitled “Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveller”. It is his introductory guide to European art, history, and the many magnificent galleries found there. I use it all the time as a reference guide before I visit any European gallery. Here’s a link to the book in his online store. (https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/europe-101). You can watch Rick’s video introduction to the book on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=90&v=QsoWM7YOC3k&feature=emb_logo) You may be able to find a copy in your local library.
Build in Other Activities
I suppose this is intuitively obvious, but it bears reminding ourselves that if we make the long drive, or fly, to attend an event, we will want to be building in some other activities in the area to round out the experience. Because we were incurring travel expenses to get to the Dominican Republic and back we and our friends decided to extend our stay on the island. To that end, we rented a waterfront Airbnb property for five nights before the Festival began. It was a lovely place, at a reasonable price. There were lots of restaurants and bars within easy walking distance. And, the sand and surf were exactly what we needed at the time. Again, we were very happy with the decision we made to expand on our getaway.
How about a Canadian example? Let’s say you choose to attend the Festival d’été de Québec. Anytime the Love-goddess and I are in Quebec City we try and include a visit out to the amazing Charlevoix region.
Just east of Quebec, Baie-Saint-Paul is the main town in the ruggedly beautiful Charlevoix area. It is filled with many interesting shops and charming restaurants. It reminds me of Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario. Instead of concentrating on theatre like NOTL, the town’s main focus is on contemporary art. And, instead of being surrounded by wineries, Baie-Saint-Paul is surrounded by wonderful artisanal farms, making up La Route des Saveurs, that produce outstanding gourmet products like gourmet meats, cheese, foie gras, and pâté, etc. ( English information – https://www.tourisme-charlevoix.com/en/what-to-do/routes-and-circuits/flavour-trail/ ) The Charlevoix is well worth a visit for any reason.
Sadly, You Can’t Do Any of This in the Immediate Future
I have to wrap up this article by reminding all of us that, of course, we’re not going to be attending any festival of any type, anywhere in 2020 in all likelihood. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the cancellation of most, if not all, of all these wonderful events. But, let us not forget, “This too shall pass”. Start thinking about possible trips for when the current madness is over. Possibly in 2021. It never hurts to start planning early. Especially if you want some time to prepare to do something that is new to you.
