Re: Goderich Celtic College - Anyone attend?
Yes, I've been going there since 2007, and it's a wonderful week in a lovely small town setting on the shore of Lake Huron, evening concerts and pub jams are great -- and the weekend festival is great too. I'm planning on it, schedule unseen, again this year. As far as mando players there to offer courses, it varies from year to year. Like many "colleges" or "camps", what it will be like for your instrument really depends on who they get that year, and it often relates to the bands they get in for the weekend festival lineup too. Mandolin (and tenor banjo) aren't the most popular courses (gotta play fiddle for that!) so the course offerings tend to be more limited. I've taken courses there from Simon Mayor, Emory Lester, and Brian Taheny. But if a mando person isn't there to attract you, there might be something else -- for example, last year there were a lot of great guitar courses offered. Sometimes they might have a "sleeper" -- a relatively unknown player from a band, that turns out to be fantastic. I'm pretty sure neither Simon or Emory will be there in 2013 (but I haven't seen a schedule yet), but I expect Brian will be (he's an institution there!) but may or may not be doing mando or tenor banjo (he also does fiddle). But there are other interesting courses to be had, including ensembles and vocals, which I've also taken. So, in short, it depends on who's offering the courses in any given year. Check their website regularly as they will be making announcements soon if not already and fleshing it out as it gets closer to summer.
Word of advice: if you do decide to go, line up accommodation early -- there are B&Bs, but the best ones are usually booked from the previous year by the regulars, and there are some motels right in town (IMHO, they charge too much!); you can get a better motel deal out the highway or in a nearby town, or if you want to camp, there is both private campgrounds and a nice provincial park with camping not too far away.
Last edited by BBarton; Mar-07-2013 at 5:14pm.
Reason: Spelling error!
Too many instruments...too little time
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