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Branch #1, Prince George, is a vibrant group of fiddlers, backup musicians, and those who just love to listen, who enjoy getting together to jam, dance and have fun together! We are committed to bringing the upbeat, happy sound of old-time music to our community by providing music at various events, dances, and seniors’ residences. We jam Tuesdays – come join us!
The Prince George Branch of the BCOTFA affirms our commitment to fostering musical growth within the community in an environment where diversity, inclusion and mutual respect are truly valued. We reject all forms of discrimination, bigotry, bullying or intimidation, as we believe these behaviours and attitudes have no place in our organization. We are a non-political group run entirely by volunteers. Our mandate is simply to encourage and celebrate the art of Old Time Fiddling and Violin playing among people of all ages and musical abilities, and as we gather to share our love of the music with each other and the community, we consistently uphold inclusive principles and ensure equal respect for every individual.
REGULAR EVENTS:
ANNUAL SPRING JAMBOREE – Next year is booked – April 17 – 19, 2027
We had a great 2026 Jamboree – summary below:
“PG FIDDLERS’ 2026 JAMBOREE A SUCCESS”
The BC Old Time Fiddlers’ Association, Branch #1 celebrated their 9th annual Jamboree March 27 – 29th with a weekend of fun and laughter as participants shared their joy of music together, made new friends and, for this weekend, set aside the news and precarious state of the world and any other negative stressors in their lives to just immerse themselves in the music that they love. Knox Performance Centre was a perfect venue for the Jamboree – for the Saturday night concert upstairs, the Friday night Kick-off family dance downstairs with 110 attendees, and the Workshops all day Saturday and Sunday in small classes scattered in five separate rooms. Six talented Instructors rotated among classes and taught 37 eager students of all ages (22 fiddle and 15 guitar) some new tunes and techniques, with breaks for delicious snacks and lunches. Dedicated Volunteers ensured food was ready, tickets were taken at the door, equipment was moved and everything ran smoothly.
The club started having weekend Spring Jamborees in 2015 in lieu of the previous annual contests, and, except for a few years off due to covid, has held one every year since. This local fiddle group has been continuously active since its formation 58 years ago, with weekly jams, monthly dances, annual Contests/Jamborees and regular play-outs at seniors’ homes and in the community. Ten years after the Prince George club started, a provincial club was formed and there are now active branches in twelve other BC cities.
The Saturday night concert, open to the public, commenced with tunes by members of the local club and went on to feature master guitarist Clinton Pelletier and his talented 8 year old son Oscar, and fantastic individual fiddling shows by Anita Mamela, Roxi Dykstra and Adam Johnson – whose rendition of ‘Bowing the Strings’ brought the crowd to their feet – and concluded with a finale of the four instructors playing together.
The weekend wound up with a group jam in the downstairs hall with students, instructors, volunteers and family all joining together. Students shared their new tunes as well as old tunes and all joined together to play a special Irish waltz, Inisheer, for which each group had learned a separate harmony part in their lessons. As participants packed up their fiddles and guitars, said their goodbyes to new and old friends and headed back to their ‘other lives,’ they may be working on their new tunes, checking out Facebook for photos of the weekend, and feeling just a little more uplifted and refreshed and looking forward to next year’s Jamboree, April 16-18, 2027.
MONTHLY DANCES 7 – 11 pm: Every 4th Saturday of Sept, Oct, Nov, Jan, Feb, Mar at 425 Brunswick St, Prince George (Senior Activity Centre). Admission still $10, which includes prizes and ice cream bar or popsicle snacks (coffee, water, chips and pop available by donation). Music by members of the local club, playing tunes for you to dance the waltz, two-step, polka, schottische, 7-step, barn dance, line dance, butterfly. . . . and there are always a couple of called group dances. One way we encourage families to come is by not charging admission for kids up to 17, who bring their parents. The result is a great mix of all ages!
WEEKLY JAM NIGHTS – Tuesdays 7 pm Every Tuesday Sept-June 30 from 7 to 9 pm at First Baptist Church, 5th/Harper (‘483 Gillett’ for GPS). Everyone is welcome, including fiddlers, listeners, and any kind of backup instrument. $5 donation to help cover venue costs (free if you’re under 18 or taking lessons).
WEEKLY BEGINNER GROUP LESSONS – Tuesdays If you are interested in learning to play the fiddle or you know of someone who would like to learn – there are two levels of beginner group sessions on Tuesday nights at First Baptist Church, 5th and Harper, taught by Shawnee Newton. Cost: $60 for each six-week session. You will need to have a fiddle and some basic knowledge about the instrument. Please contact Shawnee at (250) 568-2215 or (250) 614-8192 or at shawneem@telus.net. After their lesson students are welcome to join the jam that starts at 7 pm, where easier tunes will be played at the start so you can participate and play the tunes you are learning.
PLAYOUTS – groups of fiddlers and backup musicians volunteer their time to entertain at seniors’ residences and special events in the community as requested. Contact Michelle at (250) 301-1101 if you would like to participate, or want to book the fiddlers for your event.
GUEST INSTRUCTORS – The club occasionally brings in a renowned fiddler to put on a concert and provide group instruction and individual private lessons if desired.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – Our next AGM will be held on a Sunday in late January, 2027, preceded by a potluck dinner at 5 pm. Date TBD.
ANNUAL SPRING JAMBOREE – April 17 – 19, 2027 at KNOX PERFORMANCE CENTRE
BRANCH #1 CONTACTS
Branch Mailing Address – Box 416, Prince George, BC V2L 4S2
Facebook Address – https://www.facebook.com/pgfiddlers
Phone or E-mail – E-mail: pgfiddlers@gmail.com (250) 565-1025
NEWS LETTERS For recent news and upcoming events check out our latest Branch #1 newsletter under Headings at top of page.
PREVIOUS NEWS LETTERS CLICK HERE
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BURSARY – Application deadline May 15, 2026
Branch #1 offers a bursary to a young person graduating Grade 12 and going on to post-secondary studies. The bursary is awarded annually based on contributions to the club by the applicant and their immediate family.
Eligibility:
- The applicant must be an active and current member of the Branch for at least the past year
- The applicant and/or a member of the applicant’s immediate family must have contributed a minimum 10 hours of volunteer time to branch activities and events over the past calendar year.
- The applicant must provide proof of enrollment in a full-time post-secondary program.
- Can be eligible for up to 4 years provided criteria is met each year.
- Up to $500 annually; amount to be determined by the board
Application process – Please submit a letter by May 15 to BC Old Time Fiddlers’ Association at pgfiddlers@gmail.com or Box 416 Prince George, BC V2L4S2
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BRANCH #1 EXECUTIVE and MEMBERSHIP
Executive for 2026
- President: Shawnee Newton
- Treasurer: Beth Bressette
- Secretary: Richard Mansfield
Directors:
- Michelle Sims
- Elizabeth Eakin
- Theresa Jordan
Membership
51 Members, including 4 children/youth and 11 ‘Life Members’ (special designation with benefits awarded to those members who have provided exceptional volunteer support for the club). Within our membership there are about 27 fiddlers and 11 backup musicians. Annual membership, due 01 September each year, is $16 for adults and free for children and teens __________________________
HISTORY of BRANCH #1
Informal fiddling jam sessions in Prince George in the 1960s in homes and a ‘fiddle shack’ led to the formation of the BC Old Time Fiddlers’ Association in 1968 in Prince George that would bring all fiddlers and backup musicians together to further promote and encourage the art of old-time fiddling in our city. The founding members became the first board, but other enthusiasts quickly joined in. The board formed their own constitution and held their first contest in 1970. In the early years the contest was held in conjunction with the Fall Fair, and was extremely popular. Guest fiddlers in those years (who were also judges) included such big names as Al Cherney, Graham Townsend, Calvin Vollrath and Reg Bouvette. Fiddlers came from all over the province as well as Alberta and the US to enter the contests, which eventually led to the formation of other branches throughout the province. In 1978 a group was formed to head up a provincial association, and Prince George became Branch #1 of the British Columbia Old Time Fiddlers’ Association. The Prince George club was very active in the 1970s and 80s, and in 1977 had two 16 foot giant fiddles built to scale that decorated parade floats and contest halls for many years. The Championship Contest continued to be held in Prince George for 1978 and 79, and after that it began to rotate throughout the new branches. Prince George hosted the Provincial Championships in 1989 and 2014 to mark the club’s 20th and 45th Anniversaries. In November 2018 we had a fantastic evening to mark our 50 YEAR CELEBRATION. There was a full house of 135 tickets for a catered dinner, concert featuring former and current members performing tunes written by some of the early members, and a dance. We even brought in one last showing of our GIANT FIDDLES, which were created for the club in the 70s.
CURRENT
The first branch has evolved since its formation 58 years ago, and we currently have a good mix of all ages participating in jams, lessons, dances, jamborees, play-outs, performances and volunteering. The branch has grown and changed, and become a more vibrant part of the community. Like many other branches, the Prince George branch had become concerned with decreasing numbers of competitors in the traditional fiddle contests, and in 2015 replaced our contest with a Jamboree, a fun weekend filled with workshops for various levels of fiddling and backup, as well as a concert and dance. Our first nine Jamborees have been great successes and we don’t expect to stop anytime soon!
Before Covid, our Thursday Jam nights brought 50 to 80 people from the community out weekly, dropping in to listen and dance. On jam nights we offered group lessons in adjoining rooms, both beginner and intermediate/advanced, for the first 45 min while the accompanists had their opportunity to provide songs and music for the dancers in the main hall (a weekly group fiddle lesson was a dream of two of our members who have since passed away, Charlotte Lapp and Ardea Wylie). After their lesson this mixed group of children, teens and adults of all abilities then went on stage together to play some of the new tunes they had been learning, as well as other fiddle tunes, until 9:30 pm. As always, the fiddlers were joined by an array of backup musicians on stage and a room full of dancers on the floor, which gave them an opportunity to learn dance tempos and practice playing with other musicians. This group often opened for celebrity fiddlers that we hosted for concerts and workshops. They also played for community events as a large group, while smaller groups played regularly each month at 8 seniors’ residences. Besides our weekly jams we had monthly dances from September to March, with rotating groups of fiddlers and backup providing the dance music, and volunteers providing a lunch and bar.
Covid changed all of this, and when we were ready to start up again after a break we couldn’t rent the previous hall, so we moved our Jamming to a different hall. In keeping with covid guidelines the format changed from a large weekly ‘dance-jam’ to a smaller acoustic circle jam (in spaced chairs). We found this smaller format so beneficial to the musicians that we’ve continued with a circle jam. Musicians can now learn new tunes and slow them down as needed to learn them, without worrying about dancers waiting on the floor. It was hoped that those members of the public who used to like to dance at the $3 ‘dance-jams’ would attend our monthly dances, and attendance has increased at the dances. Everyone is welcome to come out to the jams – to play or just listen.
We are probably one of the very few groups in Prince George – maybe the only group – that has been continuously running (except for summers and covid) with weekly jams and monthly dances, for 58 years! The club is able to continue only as long as we have helpful and willing volunteers, which can be challenging in this busy day and age. We now have a Facebook page, a valuable way to share upcoming events and new fiddle tunes. With our membership at 51 and new fiddlers and guitar players coming all the time, we believe the club is a source of learning and enjoyment for all member musicians and supporters, as well as an inspiration to the community to develop an appreciation for old time fiddle music.