Wolfe Island Garden Party set for this weekend

Jun 14, 2017

The Wolfe Island Garden Party is a three day event that will feature music on Thursday and Friday Nights (June 15 and 16) and a day of open houses at farms and arts studios on the island and  much more music, food and local beer on Saturday (June 17).

The event has more or less developed into this form after Janette Hasse approach local musician and producer Chris Brown about a fund raising benefit. Hasse has been working with the students at Marysville Public School on  a community garden project at the Wolfe Island Medical Centre, which she is planning to expand to the grounds of the new senior’s building that is being constructed nearby and build a greenhouse.

Chris Brown has been producing music with musicians from far and wide at his Post Office Studio for ten years, and recently decided to form a label, Wolfe Island Records. At the same time, Casey Fisher from the Wolfe Island Grill and Rene Zieglemaier are launching Wolfe Island Spring Craft Brewery this month (see article on page 4 of the FCFDC supplement in this issue).

The idea of celebrating the link between art and agriculture on the island took off and the 1st annual Wolfe Island Garden party came to life. The event has turned into a coming out party of sorts for the music label, the beer company and local farmers and artists.

In the end 13 locations have signed on to participate, including 6 farms, 2 artists and 3 restaurants.

“We wanted to raise some awareness about food sourcing and the interdependence between food and art and music, and to celebrate some of the connections that have been growing in our island community,” said Chris Brown. “And when people came forward offering to hold open houses across the island, we knew we had something.”

Among the farms operations that are participating are DeRuiters Black Angus Cattle, the Posthumus Dairy Farm, Windkeeper Farm vegetables and seed, to name a few. Frontenac County is hosting an agricucltural panel on Saturday afternoon at the General Wolfe Inn. Later in the afternoon, the restaurants will be hosting musical events and serving food, and Chris Brown has invited some of the musicians who have recorded at his studio, including Jenny Whiteley and Joey Wright from Elphin, Luther Wright and the Wrongs, the Openhearts Society, Suzanne Jarvie, David Corley, Chris Brown himself and a host of others will be performing at the venues throughout the three days. For a full schedule, go to the Wolfe Island Garden Party Facebook event page.

Particularly on the Saturday, visitors from the mainland are invited to leave their cars in Kingston and walk onto the ferry or bring a bike. Many of the events are in Marysville or close by, and bike rentals are available and there will be a wagon providing free transportation. The idea of visiting the island without bringing a car is a focus this summer, to ease pressure on the ferry, make it easier to cross and for a more pleasant experience because walkers and cyclist can waltz onto the ferry while cars and trucks need to wait, sometimes for an extra hour.

Events start at 8:30 pm on Friday and Saturday and run from 11am until the evening on Saturday.

The ferry leaves Kingston  on the 1/2 hour from 8:30 in the morning until 12:30, and then on the hour from 2pm until 10pm. It takes 20 minutes to cross over.