October 9–17, 2026
| date | Tuesday, Oct 13th 2026 @ 7:30 pm ADT |
| venue | Our Lady of Fatima Church |
| locale | Sydney River |
| price | $45/$40 |
| washroom | Yes |
| seating | Reserved Seating |
In August 1977 a crowd of all ages, clad in jeans, t-shirts, floppy hats, tank tops, and cut-off shorts, made their way to Malcolm Dean’s farm in Tarbot, “35 miles south of Ingonish” with lawn chairs, coolers, picnic baskets, and two-fours of beer in hand for the “first annual” Tarbot Music Festival. Founded by Steve and Jane Grose, who relocated to Cape Breton from Ontario two years earlier, the Tarbot Festival ran from 1977-1979. The first year brought together an extraordinary mix of traditional fiddle players, folk singers, and contemporary Cape Breton artists, and over the course of three years, virtually every Cape Breton musician on the scene at that time, regardless of genre, would take the stage at Tarbot. Max MacDonald, who was there performing with popular Cape Breton band Buddy and the Boys, will host this evening’s flashback to Cape Breton’s Woodstock. Featuring as many of the original Tarbot performers as could be rounded up, the line-up includes Buddy MacDonald, Nipper MacLeod (Men of the Deeps), Dennis & Lori Cox, Sam Moon, John Gracie, Maynard Morrison, and Jo-Anne Rolls backed by a house band that includes three of the original members of the band Road—Fred Lavery, Allie Bennett and Bruce Timmins—joined by Stephen Muise. Fiddler Shawnee Paul will step in for the late Eskasoni fiddler Lee Cremo, and Shelley Allen, who attended the festival as a fan, will make her Celtic Colours debut tonight with a Kenzie MacNeil favourite. Based largely on the classic Tarbot Anthology album, recorded in 1977, songs will be sung, tunes will be played, and stories will be shared by those taking the stage. If you live in Cape Breton and are of a certain age, at some point in time, you have either asked or been asked “were you at Tarbot?”. Now you can say you were! Well, kind of anyway.
Max MacDonald is co-founder of the Celtic Colours International Festival, but his musical performance background goes back to 1972 when he told Leon Dubinsky he could sing and dance in order to get an acting job. Fortunately, Leon called his bluff and Max discovered ...
Maritime singer-songwriter Sam Moon first came out of Cape Breton Island alongside Matt Minglewood in the band Moon Minglewood & the Universal Power. After touring across North America in the 1970’s, Sam recorded his long-awaited debut album, New Moon, in 1982, followed in 2011 ...
Esteemed Cape Breton singer-songwriter Buddy MacDonald has been entertaining audiences for more than 45 years. The 2022 East Coast Music Association (ECMA) Stompin’ Tom Award-winner was exposed at an early age to the singing and storytelling of some of the great singers of his ...
Cape Breton singer-songwriter Jo-Anne Rolls began her career on the pub scene in the 1970’s and transitioned over the years to blues and jazz. She’s performed on stage nationally and internationally and in musical theatre. Jo-Anne has been featured on TV and radio, in ...
Former coal miner Nipper MacLeod hails from New Waterford and is a lead singer with the Men of the Deeps coal miners choir. He also plays guitar and is known for his many mining and Cape Breton songs, including his much-loved rendition of Rita ...
Shawnee Paul began her journey with music at the age of six as a new pianist. From early childhood, Shawnee became interested in playing the fiddle as she watched her grandfather practice and perform with the fiddle often. By the time she turned seven, ...
Sydney Mines native Allie Bennett is in his 51st year in the Canadian music industry. He has toured Canada, the United States, Britain, Sweden, Australia, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. As a studio musician, Allie has worked on over 150 albums, and his name appears ...
Maynard Morrison is co-founder of The Rise and Follies of Cape Breton Island and The Cape Breton Summertime Revue. He has toured the country as a member of The Revue and as a member of The Fabulous Doorknobs. For ten years, Maynard was a ...
Dennis and Lori Cox are a folk music duo who were active in the Cape Breton music scene in the 1970s after emigrating from the “Boston States.” Touring throughout Canada and the northern United States, they gained recognition in folk clubs, on CBC, and ...
Shelley Allen is a familiar face in the Cape Breton music scene. Combining vocals with guitar and percussion, she plays a mix of styles including rhythmic roots music, jazz, bluesy soul, classic country, and Celtic. She is an accredited music therapist who designs and implements ...
Running from 1977-1979, the Tarbot Music Festival was the first of its kind on Cape Breton Island. Community concerts, like the Broad Cove Scottish Concert and the Big Pond Concert, were well-established by this time, but they concentrated on preserving and celebrating traditional Scottish ...