PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, Canada – In a tiny province where most people believe that “small means beautiful”, the Festival of Small Halls emerged from a musical concept packed with merit.

Nearly every town on PEI, Canada’s smallest province, has a community hall capable of holding several hundred people. Why not use those tiny venues in a big way?

The result, the Festival of Small Halls, held from June 14-22, 2008, created fun for those who performed or attended and immediately attracted tourists. Although plans for a second festival this year failed to materialize, the event may return again.

“The first festival was a big success,” said Ward MacDonald, the event manager and a talented fiddler. “We had sold-out shows in several halls and lots of positive feedback from the crowds, sponsors, musicians and dancers. Almost everyone thought it was a really great idea. The whole thing felt really good.”

With radio-station sponsorship and a non-profit board of directors, the festival promised “exceptional music, art and dance across PEI”. Singers, other musicians, “dancers by the dozens” and “showcases of prominent visual artists” provided the main attractions for 14 shows within nine days.

The shows pleased crowds everywhere from Tignish, near PEI’s western tip, to more central sites like Stanley Bridge, Crapaud and Tracadie Cross, and to East Point, Dundas, Georgetown and Murray River in the “far east”.

“We wanted to go into the small, rural halls to place the music in context,” Ward said. “We presented traditional music and dance with professional lighting and sound in the small halls where they’ve been a part of life for 150 years. Every community has a hall, and people love to host events at their halls.

“Residents of PEI traveled across the province to shows. People from off-Island came to attend. Those rural halls played a big part in the festival’s feel-good nature. We loved the intimate feeling in small halls. People from the communities not only hosted the shows, but also provided suppers for all the musicians and dancers.”

Musical performers covered a wide spectrum. They included regional stars like Ron Hynes, Richard Wood, Andrea Beaton, Cynthia MacLeod and Troy MacGillivray and popular bands like Vishten, Les Girls and the Saddle River String Band.

“We presented groups that are stage-ready and worthy to tour the world,” Ward said. “Some already have toured the world. We brought some big names back home, put them on a local stage and gave them a chance to really shine.

“Right from the get-go, performers bought into the festival idea and believed in it. For example, Richard Wood (a champion fiddler) did multiple shows for us that week.”

But wasn’t there a huge problem? With multiple shows on some days, no one could attend everything. Why not organize 14 shows in 14 days? “Then we couldn’t handle the demand in small halls,” Ward said. “The demand’s there so we need more than one venue some nights.

“We did have some complaints, but not serious ones, from people saying, ‘We wish we could get to them all.’ A few people made it to nine shows in nine days. My father attended eight. Many people went to four or five shows. We had lots of support from folks who recognized this as an event not to miss.”

Who had the brainstorm for the festival? “I’d love to take the credit, but can’t,” Ward said. “Ray Brow, a businessman from Brudenell, PEI, came up with the idea. He’s best known as a former owner of nursing homes, but also runs other businesses and has a passion for music and dance.”

Brow is a director of Music Prince Edward Island. “He wanted to see more life breathed back into the halls,” Ward said. “He went out and talked, sharing his idea for a festival until he found other passionate folks who saw the big picture.”

Each participating hall “that needed it” received an upgraded sound-and-lighting system. That’s another boost to the already-high standard of local music.

“We brought everyone up to the same level,” Ward said. “That’s laying an infrastructure for future events. We present world-class music in the rural halls. The sound, lights and professional presentation all form part of that. We left a legacy and can save on future production costs.”

Big ideas about small venues can have impressive results.



'We loved the intimate feeling
in small halls,' Ward says.


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