Yodelfest 2010 - May 1st
Review by Miriam Dreher

YODELFEST 2010 was a huge success with people coming from all areas of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, a family from Ottawa and folks from England and Sweden.

The show opened with 25 members from the Calgary Swiss yodel club, yodeling in five part harmony with no music or backup instruments. You had to be there to believe the wonderful sounds! On the second set, a young lady presented on the alphorn - the sound was so outstanding, you could have heard a pin drop afterwards, plus questions about the instrument. The Calgary Swiss Folk dancers took to the stage dressed in beautiful costumes from the different cantons (similar to Canadian municipalities) in Switzerland and showed great precision dancing.

Headliner, 16 year old Michael Bridge, won the Junior Championship at the Kimberley Accordion Festival in 2009 and six months later in Edmonton took the stage accompanying himself with a keyboard and piano accordion simultaneously. On the second set, he played the button accordion and took requests from the audience. He will be going to Croatia this fall to compete in the world junior championship accordion convention. He has been booked again for Yodelfest 2011.

The Doll Sisters from Rocky Mountain House were well received with a bit of country, bluegrass, fiddle music, Celtic music and stylings of their own. They now have their first CD for sale.

Miriam and the Mountaineers concluded both sets with Miriam yodeling in different styles, and some of her own originals. Everyone was asking how she does the echo on the "Yodelers Love Call". She also did some Wilf Carter and Hank Snow numbers plus audience requests.

Next year's event has been booked for May 14th, 2011 with some new artists on stage for that. A well known gentleman from the US has volunteered to bring a performance of different styles of yodeling, accordion and zither.

Review by Miriam Dreher