The final one of the season

I got to march through Wolfville again a weekend ago, in the company of a herd of children. The children's parade was a part of the Deep Roots folk festival, and I happened to be where it formed up, helping our granddaughter Sabine get into a costume, when I was asked to be inside one of the big puppets that towered over the parade.

My giant puppet was of a little girl with blonde hair and pig tails, a configuration that caused some consternation when a little boy asked the puppet a question. After I answered, he said in amazement, "Hey, that girl has a man's voice!" I put on a falsetto to answer back. That didn't keep him and his brother from climbing under my skirts and talking to me at one point during the parade, however, while their mother worked my right arm, and another woman waved with my left.

Sabine's costume featured wings, which she refused to take off for the rest of the day, even when she had her nap. She was fascinated by the idea that I was inside the big puppet, and stared hard up in the air at the puppet's head whenever I spoke to her. You could see her trying to figure it out. The puppets were created by a group called Monika Wildemann and the Wee Giant Theatre, which operates out of the Mahone Bay Centre. Monika Wildemann teaches at the South Shore Waldorf School in Blockhouse.

We had a fun weekend at the Deep Roots festival, even though Hurricane Kyle was threatening. Before the parade we had stopped in at the Just Us Café for our morning dark roast and scones, the café located in the lobby of the old Acadia Theatre, where I used to usher as a kid.

After coffee, we toured the Wolfville farm market, munching on pakoras and admiring the organic produce and grass-fed lamb. Some of the musicians from the concert the night before were there, groggy from the late-night parties, which are a big feature of folk festivals. I could never figure out how performers could stay up all night jamming and still be able to go on stage the next day.

The festival brings a lot of people and money to Wolfville, and I couldn't help but think that it is a shame that the Hank Snow tribute is no longer held in Queens County. Liverpool has a number of important festivals now, however, and it would be interesting to focus on one that would bring people to the town for music, much as the International Theatre Festival does for drama.

An annual event, perhaps as a part of the Queens County SeaFest or Privateer Days, could feature both country and folk music. A lot of either genre is crossover music, appealing to all kinds of tastes.

One of the most popular groups in Wolfville was just such an act, called the Hot Club of Cowtown. Based in Austin, Texas, the group was just returning from a three week tour of the United Kingdom. It included a flashy fiddler named Elana James, who wore a little black dress and shone big eyes around like a comedienne while she fiddled up a storm. With her were virtuoso guitar player Whit Smith and Jake Erwin, who played his bass fiddle by slapping it. The crowd loved it.

Much fun was made during the festival of federal conservative leader Stephen Harper, who is cutting funding for Canadian culture. On Saturday night, comedian Bill Carr, who acted as MC, kept inviting "elite" artists on stage, a reference to Harper's contention that culture is elitist. The sympathies of the audience were pretty clear.

The previous night, MC Steve Poltz, a Californian who was born in Halifax, asked the audience who it would vote for in the American election, if that were possible. There were wild cheers for Barack Obama and dead silence when John McCain's name was mentioned.

Some of the best musical moments were provided by the Hupman Brothers (who spent this past Saturday night in North Queens playing at the New Grafton hall, their second appearance at the hall this year). Two brothers from Shelburne who now live in Wolfville, Scott and Ryan Hupman were on stage with Matt Andersen and a variety of other performers.

Tom Sheppard can be reached at twsheppard@gmail.com