There is a photograph that has always fascinated me, a photo of my then nine-year-old sister holding
a rather ordinary-looking clam shell on Cavendish Beach in Prince Edward Island. She is displaying the shell
for the photographer, her mother, proud in her accomplishment of having found such a beautiful treasure on
Cavendish Beach, a place that is nothing but beautiful, and exotic, and unique in all the world. It was, it
seems, a moment of complete joy.
If you are as lucky as that girl and have had a childhood that included summer visits to Cavendish and Prince
Edward Island, you will remember the excitement you felt as you neared the ocean, the smells of sea-spray
intensifying. The affection for Cavendish Beach and Prince Edward Island is an intense one for all who visit,
and not just children.
Multiple generations of families from around the world now make their Cavendish Beach pilgrimage during a few
days in early July, so as to take in what has to be the most unique musical festival and family fair in North
America. It is called the Cavendish Beach Music Festival and is perhaps best known for major stars such as
Reba McEntire, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift. They and dozens of other performers have taken
to the stage in this stunning outdoor rural venue, the majestic Cavendish Beach as their backdrop, glittering
ocean sunsets informing their songs.
It is true that the estimated 40,000 and then 80,000 people who have come to the Cavendish Beach Music
Festival over the last two summers have done so for the music stars and the exotic, almost Caribbean-like
location. But they have also come because the Cavendish Beach Music Festival is a festival like no other.
Just as Abegweit, the original Mi’kmaq name, means “island cradled in the waves,” the Cavendish Beach Music
Festival is a four-day cultural event that is cradled in a seaside community rich in attractions, culinary
splendour, rich history and a gentleness that pervades its people amid the vibrant rolling
hills.
The opening of the festival itself has the feel of a pilgrimage, with the audience streaming in from east,
west, south, and even from the north, where they arrive by boat. Most arrive early, before lunch, so as to
spend entire days on the grounds where multiple stages are alive with the finest in Atlantic Canadian music.
The crowd becomes a euphoric little village, one where there are no strangers, almost as if they are
mimicking Island culture, where everybody seems to be known to another, or at least know of another. “I don’t
know him, but I know him to see him” is an oft-heard Island expression.
And so the Cavendish Beach Music Festival assembles into a self-contained four-day family-oriented community,
with days filled with quick trips to the beach, casual visits to the food fair, the popular kitchen
party-oriented stage, and the joyous oceanfront-inspired world that is Cavendish Beach. It is an unusual
instant community, perhaps ignited by the international stars, but once lit, it burns bright on the sense of
joy that rolls through the tens of thousands of new Islanders. They have a sudden sense of belonging, and a
new town they are part of, together.
On one level, it feels almost cinematic, with the deep pastel colours of Prince Edward Island accompanied by
the gentle crashing of the ocean and the swaying, rustling trees that line the path to the festival grounds.
The crowd of thousands of new family friends are as enthralled by the setting as much as they are by the
music and stars of stage. You can see it in their pleasure-filled expressions and in the widespread
proliferation of picture-taking. For it seems every second family has a camera in their hands, photographing
the celebrities on stage, but also capturing countless images of each other, of their new neighbours and of
their children. No doubt they will value the photographs for decades to come, having captured the
extraordinary human warmth and exhilaration of the Cavendish Beach Music Festival, knowing, as can sometimes
happen, that the magic is upon them. It is a wonderful, rare moment that they will carry in their hearts, and
their photo albums, for their whole lives. •
Photos courtesy of Cavendish Beach Music Festival
