Fiddle Jamborees:
Spontaneous Couple Dancing to Living Traditional Music

What is a Fiddle Jamboree?

Several dozen musicians, mostly fiddlers, getting together on a week night or Sunday afternoon for a session of traditional music, mostly Reels, Jigs and Waltzes. Couples will dance Waltz, Schottische, Polka, Two-Step, Foxtrot, or whatever the music moves them to dance. There may be some Square Dances. The Sunday afternoon Jamborees are often followed by an optional roast-beef dinner.

These Jams are held in Legion halls, community centres, church halls, or service club halls. The program consists of a few musicians at a time, in turn, playing one or two songs, with a more or less permanent rhythm section. There may also be a combined Jam Session with as many musicians as will fit on the stage.

Except for the occasional square dances, there is no formal coordination of the dancing. Some Jams may have no dancing at all, whereas others may have 100 dancers on the floor.

This is a wonderful opportunity to dance freely with a partner, each couple in their own style.

Most people arrive in couples or families. There may be some singles. While the traditional music is as lively as ever, most of the dancers today are Seniors. If you like lively turning dances or other vigourous dance forms, it is advisable to bring along a suitable partner.

All these Jamborees are at least an hour's drive outside of Toronto. There are about 10 monthly Jamborees about one hour from Toronto.

This Events List shows some of them.

COTSDCA list of Fiddle Clubs and Jamborees (Murray Smith)
Ontario Fiddle Events (Bill Elliott)
Bolton Old Time Fiddlers (Eric Wheeler)


Irish Music Sessions (Mostly no room to dance)
Irish Music Sessions Timeline (Mostly no room to dance)
Cape Breton
Irish: Dora Keogh Th 2100, Su 1400
Bluegrass: Silver Dollar We 2130
fiddlejam.ca
Jam Session Etiquette
Peter Renzland Toronto, Canada (416) 323-1300 Peter@Dancing.Org