5 fun things to do on P.E.I. this Father's Day weekend
Sara Fraser | CBC News | Posted: June 17, 2017 11:00 AM | Last Updated: June 17, 2017
'You get to sample as many cakes as your belly will allow'
This Father's Day weekend, it may finally be time to clean the ashes out of the wood stove and say hello to the last weekend of spring by getting out to one of the many events blossoming across P.E.I. like dandelions.
Here's a sampling.
1. Bridgefest 150
Bridgefest 150 celebrates Canada's birthday as well as 20 years of the Confederation Bridge.
Events through Sunday include a breakfast for former bridge construction workers Saturday in Borden-Carleton from 7:30-10:30 a.m. and a concert at Credit Union Place in Summerside at 8 p.m. featuring Burton Cummings and Jimmy Rankin. Tickets are $62.19 and can be purchased at the box office or online at Ticketmaster.
The registration deadline has passed for Sunday's IWK Run for Families, but there will be lots of fun activities at Gateway Village Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. including a free Kids' Zone, interactive games, theatrical and musical performances, food vendors and helicopter tours ($100 each).
2. Million Dollar Quartet
Million Dollar Quartet is the "second" show onstage at the Confederation Centre's Summer Festival this summer, as well as Anne of Green Gables, and opened Friday night.
The 2010 Tony Award-nominated Broadway hit is a revue-style musical featuring the music of Elvis (Matthew Lawrence), Jerry Lee Lewis (Jefferson McDonald), Carl Perkins (Edward Murphy), and Johnny Cash (Greg Gale).
Gale is reprising his role as Cash, one he played earlier this year at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton.
Audiences will hear the hallmark hits Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog, Fever, Great Balls Of Fire, Walk The Line, Folsom Prison Blues and more.
The show recounts the story of a real session held at Sun Records Dec. 4, 1956 — the one and only gathering of what a newspaper editor immediately dubbed "the million-dollar quartet."
Tickets range from $29 to $74 and can be purchased here.
3. Let Them Eat Cake
Let Them Eat Cake is a delicious annual fundraiser for Rock Barra Artist Retreat Co-Operative.
It's being held at the historic Haviland Club in Charlottetown Saturday starting at 7 p.m. For $15, guests are invited to sample slices of about two dozen cakes — everything from decadent sugary confections to raw food and gluten-free cakes.
"You get to sample as many cakes as your belly will allow... a little sliver of this one, a little sliver of that one," said organizer Teresa Doyle.
There's also a silent art auction and music by Teresa Doyle, Patrick Bunston and others.
4. Trailside Cafe
Take dad to dinner and a show at the homey little Trailside Cafe in Mount Stewart, P.E.I. Sunday night.
The Atlantic String Machine is playing with Nick Doneff.
Doors and kitchen open at 6:30 p.m., and the music starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at trailside.ca.
5. Festival of Small Halls
The wildly popular Festival of Small Halls is back, running June 11 through 24, packing small church and community halls across P.E.I. with toe-tapping music and homespun stories in more than 50 events.
There are several events each night of the festival, and truly something for every taste.
This weekend's offerings include an old-time fiddle workshop Saturday morning at the Pourhouse in Charlottetown ($7 to $12) and Island Tales and Family Ties at the York Community Centre Saturday afternoon from 2-4:30 p.m. ($20) with the Kitson family and Dale McIsaac.
Sunday enjoy The Barra MacNeils at 7 p.m. at Trinity United Church in Charlottetown ($25), or the Up West Hoedown featuring Peggy Clinton and Johnny Ross, Leon Gallant and Billy MacInnis ($15) Sunday at 7:30 p.m., at the St. Louis Community Centre.
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