Shared from Patricia Gakis Music:
Several years ago, someone asked me if I played in Manitou earlier that summer. I had no idea what they were talking about so they explained that there was a ukulele group playing at a busking festival there. I still had no idea what they were talking about. A busking festival? In Manitou Beach? Thank goodness for Google search!
At the time though, I wasn’t performing so I didn’t think much about it afterwards. But as I started coming out of my shell and getting myself setup as a solo performer, I started seeing more stuff about this event.
Established in 2011, the Manitou Beach Busking Festival has grown to be two weekends long with various activities throughout the week. Stages are set up at several venues for performers to play at and the music goes from morning to night. This year, the festival ran from Friday, June 26th to Sunday July 5th in Manitou Beach, Saskatchewan.
As I was filling out applications for various opportunities this summer, I remembered this little festival and sent in an application despite not knowing what to expect. Despite some logistical problems on my end, I’m really happy I was one of the buskers chosen.
I had selected that I was free on both Sundays and got a spot on both of those Sundays which was a lot of driving as Manitou Beach is 125 km from Saskatoon. Not far for some but tricky with multiple disabilities. My first set was at Relics Art Gallery. We arrived in the pouring rain that afternoon but thankfully, that cloud dried up by the time of my set. Oof, was I ever nervous but overall, I was happy to be there.
The next Sunday, I had two sets – one in the morning at the Little Manitou Art Gallery and the other in the later afternoon at Relics again. Being the opener on a Sunday morning isn’t easy but as I was still getting comfortable with the flow of the festival, it went well.
My mom was kind enough to help me with driving on both days and on the second weekend, after my first set, we drove to the beach and set up some chairs and my beach tent to relax a bit and have some lunch. No, I didn’t go for a swim in Saskatchewan’s own Dead Sea – yes, it is a super salty lake! – but a little wading was still nice on my rickety joints.
My last set was moved to the Manitou Mini Mart which had a great set up. Playing Hawaiian and reggae music with the water rippling behind me was so perfect!
Overall, it was a great festival! There are things I’ll do differently next year but for my first time, I was so happy to meet a lot of great people and hear some fantastic music.
