LEVEE ON THE LAKE

For more than thirty-five years, Steven Page has established himself as one of the most recognizable and enduring voices in music. The release of his 2022 album, Excelsior, has shown that he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. Since its release, Steven has toured Canada, the US and the UK with The Steven Page Trio, and has more performances planned well into 2024. As a co-founder, vocalist and songwriter for Barenaked Ladies, Steven sang and wrote classics like “Brian Wilson,” “If I Had A Million Dollars,” “What A Good Boy,” “It’s All Been Done” and many more. With the band, he sold over 15 million albums and scored multiple JUNOs, Billboard Music Awards, SOCAN awards, Gemini Awards and two Grammy nominations. After leaving the band in 2009, Steven embarked on a solo career that has produced five solo albums, including Excelsior. He has toured worldwide, from folk festivals to cabarets and theatres, all the way to packed arenas on his recent string of dates opening for rock legends The Who. In 2018, Steven was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame with his former bandmates in Barenaked Ladies, at the JUNO Awards Ceremonies in Vancouver. The Governor-General’s Performing Arts Awards approached Steven in 2021 about writing a song as a surprise tribute to his friend, Ryan Reynolds, and the result was “Canada Loves You Back,” a song as poignant, humourous and Canadian as the actor it honours. A passionate mental health advocate, Steven has been in demand as a public speaker since 2011, sharing his own story with audiences across North America.

Owner of Mi’kmaq Art Experience, Ashley lives and operates her business in Indian Island First Nation, located near the ocean in New Brunswick. She is a multidisciplinary authentic Mi'kmaq artist who creates and teaches traditional Mi'kmaq art such as beading, basketmaking and quillwork. She learned her art over the past 29 years, under the direction of traditional art knowledge keepers in her family - her grandmother and aunties. She began receiving teachings at a very young age as it was a way of survival for those who came before her. Her grandmother once told her how she would trade baskets with farmers for things such as eggs, milk, and meat. It took her many years of creating and selling art before becoming confident in teaching it. Since 2008, she has taught at schools, post secondary institutions, correctional facilities, national parks, conferences, and community youth programs.

Register for Ashley's Workshops on our workshop page and see her dance demonstration with family and friends on Sunday.

Sackville, New Brunswick has a strong 'Old Time' fiddle tradition, cemented in part by the legendary fiddler Curtis Hicks.  Born in the farming community of nearby Midgic in 1915; he was five years old when his parents took him to a house dance and he heard a fiddle for the first time. He would later attempt unsuccessfully, to make a fiddle out of a shingle and rabbit wire.

Stacey Read, a student of Ivan Hicks, is founder of The New Brunswick Old Time Fiddle Co.; home of The Lumber Jills

Colleen Wade, Julie Smith, Katie MacIlvena, Quinn MacAskill and Sara Nelson are proud to carry on the fiddling traditions of Sackville, from barns to stages around the region. They will appear at The Festival of Small Halls in PEI and Miramichi Scottish Festival and Summerside Lobster Carnival.

Hailing from Burton, New Brunswick, 26-year-old singer Riley Taylor was born into a military family and quickly understood the meanings of passion and perseverance. Surrounded by music from a young age, Riley was influenced by the Country classics played on his uncle's and grandfather's guitars around campfires. After winning the Emerging Artist Showcase at Boots and Hearts in 2021, Riley released his debut single “Good Things” via Warner Music, earning himself the Rogers One To Watch, Acadias One To Watch as well as Stingrays Trending Track, reaching as high as #33 on the Canadian charts. Currently working with Honky Tonk Record Co., Riley has released multiple singles and garnered millions of streams. Finding himself on the covers of Apple Music's “Canada Country” Playlist, as well as on the covers of Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Country and Just North of Nashville Playlist, Building off of his 2023 success, Riley currently has tour dates scheduled with Brett Kissel, as well as multiple festival bookings across Canada in 2024. Scheduled to release his debut album in the fall of 2024, Riley Taylor has begun to cement himself as one of Canada’s most sought-after up-and-coming country acts! 

Chris Sanipass is a Mikmaq man from Indian Island, New Brunswick. He is a men's traditonal champion dancer and story teller. He travels across north America competing and sharing his culture with others. He is known as a knowledge keeper in the Mikmaq territory and a beadwork artist. Chris is a husband to his wife Rebecca of 36 years and and a grandfather of 6. 

He will be teaching his cultural dancing at on Thursday and demonstrating dance at workshops with his wife Rebecca Sanipass.

Cecelia Brooks is a member of the Sitansisk Wolastoqiyik community in Fredericton and comes from a
family of mixed Indigenous heritage. Cecelia is an avid food and medicinal plant harvester.
Cecelia applies her formal education in chemistry to create a line of body care products from local plants.
She applies her entrepreneurial skills to her family run non-timber forest product company (Soul Flower
Herbals) where they work together to harvest, extract and produce plant-based wellness products using
extracts from Wabanaki forests.
She is also co-owner of Wabanaki Tree Spirit Tours & Events where she partners with her naturalist son
Anthony to guide people on medicine walks through the local old-growth forest. They teach Wabanaki
culture and history to bridge the gap between Canadians and Indigenous communities.
Cecelia Brooks has served as the Water Grandmother with the Canadian Rivers Institute at UNB since
2010 and currently teaches Indigenous Perspectives in the Department of Forestry and Environmental
Management.

Alain Clavette is well known as The Acadian Birder especially on CBC SHIFT every Friday afternoon. He is also an ornithology professor at The Univeristy of Moncton and an advocate for our amazing birds of New Brunswick. Join him for a walk around Middle Sackville and a talk about birding in the area of Sackville and The Tantramar. Comfortable shoes are a must!