This is a personal note and reflection on my trip to the North Country Fair for the 31st annual solstice celebration and folk festival. 
Way back in 1979 I was living “back to the land” on a farm near Joussard Alberta, on Lesser Slave Lake – about 400 km north of Edmonton. The previous summer I had taken a trip to Ontario and attended Mariposa and Killilou Festivals and came home with the idea to expand our annual community solstice picnics, to a folk festival. Thus was born the North Country Fair, and I served as the coordinator for the first five years.
The Fair has moved to 5 different sites over the years, but has finally arrived “home” at a wonderful and HUGE site on the Driftpile River. Farsighted individuals now running the Fair were smart enough to invest in the purchase of 9 quarter sections (1,440 acres or 583 hectares). The site is easily large enough for the Fair and serves as a large eco-reserve of Northern Alberta pasture, riverbed and boreal forest.Read More