An annual, classic, Quesnel Christmas event will take place this weekend.
The Quesnel Old Time Fiddlers’ Christmas Dance and Potluck Dinner is celebrating more than 50 years of its annual event at the Quesnel Legion Hall this Saturday, December 6.
“This event has been going on longer than I have been a part of the organization,” says Gloria Weber, the Secretary for the Fiddlers’ Association, who has been with the group since the ’90s.
“We gather every year, and family and friends wrap presents for the little kids, have candy bags, and play tunes. We have our potluck and dance that used to go to two o’clock in the morning, but now our group is getting a little older, and we stop around 10 at night.”
Newer to the Fiddlers over the last two years is the accompaniment of other musical instruments. This year, they have an accordion, played by Weber, a trumpet, guitars, a bass, and a piano accompaniment by Hal Giles, who has played blues and rock across the Cariboo.
More musicians and fiddlers from around the Cariboo make the journey to Quesnel for the Fiddlers’ Christmas Dance each year.
The Christmas Dance and Potluck Dinner has been a long-standing holiday activity tradition in Quesnel. But with it comes the issue that the once larger crowds have started to age, and it has been harder to maintain long-term attendance.
That, however, according to Weber, has also started to see a turnaround in the last few years.
“We’ve made a connection with the dance studio next door to where we practice at the Quesnel Bingo Hall,” Weber says. “The studio has contra and round dancing lessons, and they’ve become involved in attending our dances. That’s been drawing in a younger crowd, which is nice, and they bring all of their kids, which has just been lovely for the Christmas cheer.”
The Old Time Fiddlers’ Christmas Dance is often held at the beginning of December, and has been one of the first signs that Christmas has arrived in Quesnel for generations, and with a newcoming younger crowd, it looks like it will continue to be that sign for more to come.
The Christmas Dance will be located at the Quesnel Legion Hall, starting with a visit from Santa for the kids at 5 p.m. The Potluck Dinner will begin at 6 p.m., and the music and dancing will start at 7 p.m.
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