Belfast—Sundays in the Park – Cape Breton music & dance

Sundays in the Park starts at 2:30 pm with a music workshop focusing on a distinctive branch of the contra dance music repertoire, followed by a 3:30 pm percussive dance workshop, to help participants discover and practice exciting ways for their shoes to fly. Guest performers and workshop participants will strut their stuff at the 5:00 pm concert and showcase, and the event concludes with a 6–8 pm open jam session for musicians of all ages and experience levels, hosted by the Belfast Bay Fiddlers.

The October 3 event features Cape Breton music and dance, with Portland-based Katie McNally (fiddle) and Neil Pearlman (piano and Cape Breton step dancing). Locals may know Neil from Maine Fiddle Camp, including as the co-host of recent online MFC “Maestro Bistro” events, or his podcast, TradCafe. He began dancing at age 3, and started soon afterward on piano, continuing to blaze his own trail making music that ranges from traditional to avant-garde. Both Katie and Neil grew up playing Scottish and Cape Breton music – Katie in Boston, and Neil in Portland – and are passionate educators, sharing the traditions through their touring and teaching.

Sundays in the Park is free and open to the public, with suggested donations on a sliding scale of $1 to $30, and Belfast Flying Shoes welcomes individual supporters and business sponsors. Current Maine CDC guidelines for outdoor events will be followed. For details and rain info, visit the Belfast Flying Shoes website (belfastflyingshoes.org)