Guitar Trail Will Have Visitors Singing

Ontario’s Blue Mountain Village is getting set to host the second Mountain Music Festival, along with a Guitar Trail experience, on Sept. 6 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

This unique experience “blends Niagara Escarpment hiking with popular and eclectic music including guitar, drumming, and ukulele and bag pipes.”

Headlining the event is Jane’s Party, a Toronto foursome described to have elements of Wilco and Skydiggers in their acoustic pop sound. The concert kicks off at 3 p.m. on the Village stage with seating provided for approximately 500 people.

“The Guitar Trail,” says Patti Kendall, of the Blue Mountain Village Association, “is a great fit for our festival line up that combines the incredible setting of the Niagara Escarpment and vistas of Georgian Bay with music. If we can provide our guests with something unique that surprises them it’s a great event. What could be better than a family hike with guitar serenade on the way up, drum circle at the top and concert in the village at the end?”

The guitar trails explores over five km of hiking trails. It starts in the pedestrian Blue Mountain Village and winds up Blue Mountain offering panoramic vistas of Georgian Bay. Along the trail, more than a dozen musicians will be performed. And, for the kids, a scavenger hunt will prompt them to find each musician and ask them specific clues. Once at the top hikers will be treated to a drumming circle with Meaford’s Bambalamb. And for those seeking more vistas, the open air gondola is free to travel down.

Kendall added, “We’ve added a few more surprises this year including a Uke Jam, an interactive stop along the Trail where you can learn to play the ukulele and a traditional luthier (Tony Karol) will be on hand to talk about the traditional craft of guitar making plus we invited our local favourites, the Beinn Gorm Highlander bag pipers to kick things off with a parade through the village at 12 noon.”

(http://www.bluemountainvillage.ca)