LETTER: One World Music Festival leaves lasting impression

‘To say that we weren’t disappointed would be an enormous understatement,’ says letter writer

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It’s days later, but my husband and I are still talking about the amazing One World Music Festival staged by the Brookside Music Association in Midland’s Little Lake Park this past weekend. Wow. Wow. Wow.

We live in Peterborough now but made the two-and-a-half-hour drive to my hometown to take in the shows. To say that we weren’t disappointed would be an enormous understatement. We were blown away.

Performers from Argentina, Spain and Uganda, plus global music groups based in Toronto and Montreal, and local bands Huronia Hot Strings and Ariko were energetic, wildly talented, exciting, and beyond all our expectations. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Little Lake Park, with the new arrangement of stone pathways, stairs, and seating on the hillside natural amphitheatre, caused the delighted person to my right to gush, “It’s like we’re watching a movie,” only to have the person in front of her turn around, beaming, and say, “I know. How can this be Midland?”

Brookside Music’s board members and the festival volunteers deserve huge kudos for all their hard work making this happen. But beyond thanks, they deserve support — from the municipality and its leaders in terms of funding and promotion, and also from all the people who sat just beyond the fence to enjoy the music while not parting with the paltry sum of $10 for an entire day and evening of world-class, world-inspired entertainment. Shame on every one of them.

For example, the last CD by internationally award-winning Payadora reached No. 1 on the World Music Charts in Europe and its sold-out 2023 European tour (Madrid, Copenhagen, Budapest and London) included a live-to-air BBC performance. But here they were in Midland, as just one act in a full day of performances for — I repeat — $10. And yet some people chose not to pay. My husband and I would have happily spent many times $10 just to see them.

As the ‘About Us’ section on its website (brooksidemusic.com) concludes, “Music is for sharing.” But it’s not free. It takes money and a small army of amazing dedicated volunteers to pull this off. Thank you, Brookside. We’ll be back. And our wallets will be open. Can’t wait to see who you line up for us next year.

Mary Delaney

Peterborough

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