'Magic' moment ensures show goes on during rain-soaked Canmore Folk Music Festival
During heavy storm, one band stepped up for an acoustic set to reward fans for braving rain and hail
As the Canmore Folk Music Festival was approaching its conclusion on Monday, organizers were faced with a tough choice.
Huddled together backstage, festival director Jenna Klein-Waller and others were tracking a major storm moving right toward the mountain town west of Calgary. As the music was still playing, they realized a difficult decision had to be made in the interest of safety.
"I walked on stage, and people knew what was coming out of my mouth as soon as I walked on the stage," said Klein-Waller, who stepped in the director's role for the first time with the departure of Sue Panning.
Crews rushed to action to cut the power, move equipment out of harm's way, and start clearing the stage before a deluge of rain and hail began.
Instrument technician Rob Maciak said they went into emergency preparedness mode, and credited everyone with acting quickly and efficiently.
"We had a plan in place for just this kind of thing to happen," said Maciak, who had to shovel hail off the stage as well as protect musical equipment.
"Everybody just did exactly what they needed to do."
WATCH l Rain and hail pelted Canmore Folk Music Festival, but it didn't stop the show for long:
It was not just a minor storm, as fans fled from the area in front of the stage and sought shelter elsewhere. The backstage area began to flood, and performers had to be ferried away in golf carts.
But once the stage was clear and while the rain and hail were still falling, Maciak noticed there were still some hearty folks out on the grass hoping to wait out the storm.
"There were probably 50 to 75 people who hung around, super hardcore people including one guy who was holding a folding chair above his head for the entire duration of the storm. Everyone else was huddled down to the ground underneath tarps, and he was standing there."
A reward for riding out the storm
Some artists backstage began jamming together in the hopes of passing the time, but after realizing there were fans still out in front of the stage one band jumped into action.
Solon McDade, bassist and singer with the Quebec-based Celtic group The McDades rallied his bandmates and decided to put on a special performance.
"You have to kind of tip your hat to these people, and they were all kind of sitting there and I thought well they need some music," said McDade. "It took about five minutes to get together, but everyone was really excited to do it."
Then, as if the music helped clear the sky, the rain began to let up and the sound of hail pelting the ground was replaced with violin and an Irish tin whistle.
"That was one way to celebrate being together and being part of the festival, and I actually think that's really part of the spirit of folk music," said McDade.
WATCH l The McDades entertain fans who waited through heavy storm
"We're so appreciative that they kind of came up on stage," said Klein-Waller. "They're like, is this OK if we do this? Let's get on there, let's entertain. And it really spoke to their almost like sense of duty, of entertaining the audience and keeping a sense of calm."
Organizers soon saw the conditions were safe again and power was restored. The rest of the fans began flooding back toward the stage, equipment was hooked up again, and the last few artists were able to finish off the festival as planned.
"Everybody came together and did the best they could in the face of adversity, and that's what the community of Canmore is all about," said Maciak.
While Mother Nature did everything it could to bring down the spirits, Klein-Waller said it may have ended up creating one of the most memorable years in the festival's history.
"When do we get to do that in a regular festival setting? So it really brought some magic."
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