The Arts on the Fly festival — which took place in Horsefly on July 12 and 13 — was a summer success story.
This year the event returned to the riverside during the peak of summer: something organizers had moved away from after forest fires and smoke impacted past festivities, and heavy crowds challenged the community. In 2023 the festival returned for a one-day, sold-out event with no camping, to lighten the load on organizers and the community.
For 2024 the event expanded back to a Friday and Saturday festival, with free camping in the grass between the Horsefly River and the spawning channel. Though ticket sales were a bit slow leading up to the festival, Saturday's event once again sold out, with capacity kept low to ensure it was manageable.
The magic of the Horsefly River was on display, with low sun lighting up the cottonwood fluff drifting down from the trees alongside the riverbank. Later on the moon shone down, lighting the banks of the river until leaving the sky to the stars and the night to the stage lights.
Children played and danced, festival-goers took breaks from the heat by dipping in the river, there was shopping in the bustling market, and at times it was hard to choose between the community hall and the river stage due to the many amazing artists performing.
The locals in a place like Horsefly give the community a head start on building the foundation for a fantastic event. Once again there was the full range of Patenaude talent on display: Pharis (Patenaude) and Jason Romero hosted square dancing, to the delight of attendees, Bats and Dao (featuring Ciel Patenaude) showcased the couple's incredible creativity, and late-night favourite The Screech Owls — led by the brilliant guitar playing of Cole Patenaude — got the crowd ready for the final act.
Argentinian phenomenon The Entangados — whose music is an invitation to get up and dance — returned to the festival after a nine-year absence, and kept the crowd moving well into the night, finishing it all off with a massive conga line.
There were other great acts as well, with one highlight being Big Fancy and the Shiddy Cowboys, a group from Fort Fraser that had the community hall crowd up and dancing to some classic and clever cowboy tunes. Big Fancy singing about online dating in the style of Hank Williams, Sr. and Marty Robbins is pure genius.
There are a lot of music festivals in the province, each with its own character and charm, but the family-friendly atmosphere, beautiful riverside setting and incredible Horsefly community made Arts on the Fly 2024 one of my all-time favourite festival experiences.
There is a lot to be said for keeping things small, relatively local, and simple.
