The Victoria Folk Music Society acknowledges with respect and gratitude the Coast Salish People upon whose traditional territories we live, work, and play. We honour and
give special thanks to the Lekwungen and Saanich peoples, also called the Songhees, Esquimalt, Tsartlip, Pauquachin, Tsawout and Tseycum First Nations.

Our Logo: Queen Victoria playing a banjo. VFMS: The Victoria Folk Music Society; 48 Years and Counting...

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How The Folk Runs (and how you can join in the fun!)
It’s pretty darn amazing what we have going at the club. No need to tell that to you folks who’ve been coming for years and it becomes immediately obvious to any newcomers who happen upon us on a Sunday night — players and listeners alike! Gathered weekly in the wood-panelled warmth of the sweetest little community hall around is the kindest, most attentive audience imaginable, delighted to hear whatever the night’s musicians have come to share and eager to sing along whenever possible. From novice performers to polished professionals, their reaction is the same….playing the VFMS is such a treat!!
Of course the Folk didn’t just appear out of nowhere: it took the vision of a small group of dedicated people to launch it, almost fifty years ago now, and has depended on the energy and commitment of countless volunteers since. Founded as a completely volunteer-run, not-for-profit organization operating by consensus, the VFMS functions as an adhocracy with any important decisions made and carried out by the people willing to attend monthly meetings, engage in lengthy no-pressure discussion, and then do the work required — affectionally referred to as the folk process!
Currently our business meetings are held on the second Thursday of the month, at 2:30pm, with details always posted in the calendar. There’s usually a dozen or so of us there, including the four folks who volunteered to serve as the ‘executive’ (i.e. president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary — Carol Aileen, Doug Baxter, Helga Woolsey, and Maureen Campbell.) If you’ve ever thought you’d like to check out the inner workings of the club, a business meeting would be a great time to do that! All VFMS members are welcome to attend and there’s always fresh-made cookies, coffee, and tea for encouragement! The next meeting is November 9th and the December 14th meeting will also serve as an AGM, more details to follow. Consider yourself invited!
Most importantly, the club can ALWAYS use more help on Sunday nights, especially in the kitchen, so if you’re not a meeting-type person but still want to become more involved in the club, please do get in touch with our dedicated volunteer coordinator, Nancy Taylor (who isn’t a fan of meetings either, but comes to them anyway – bless her!) As always, profound thanks goes to her and to all who love the Folk….the volunteers, the musicians, and the audience who come so faithfully every week and make it all happen! We wouldn’t be running without you!!
~ Carol Aileen, for The Folk

The Victoria Folk Music Society (VFMS)
Every Sunday
at 7:30 PM
at “Norway House”,
1110 Hillside Ave.
Victoria, BC
(between Quadra St.
and Cook St.
on the #4 bus route)

Admission: $8.00;
16 yrs. & under, Free;
VFMS members, volunteers, and performers: No Charge

Pre-Folk Jam: 6:45 PM

First Half: 7:30 PM
Open Stage:
sign up with Host and perform a ten-minute-set;

Performer Guidelines (PDF):
How to please a folk audience!

Half-time Break:
Tea, coffee and assorted goodies available

Second Half: 9:00 PM
The Feature

Format may occasionally vary

Memberships and
Monthly Newsletter (N/L):
$85.00 Individual;
$140.00 Family;
$20.00 N/L only

FOR Information or Emergency Contact
email info@victoriafolkmusic.ca
or  

Mail to:
Victoria Folk Music Society,
c/o 3483 Lovat Avenue,
Victoria, BC, V8X 1T8

For booking info, email featurebooking.vfms at shaw.ca at shaw.ca

Email comments, updates, or queries about the VFMS website to webmaster at victoriafolkmusic.ca

Check out our Archive of previous VFMS features
starting with 2023
(going back to 1976!)

We have a special page
of links to performers’ websites: see Performer Links, mostly,
(a list of many folks who have featured on our stage!)

A Vancouver Island-focused IslandFolk eMail ListServ: Email about music & music events. To subscribe: go to ml.islandnet.com/mailman/list info/islandfolk/

View in your browser or download the VFMS November 2023 Newsletter
(PDF)

Departed Friends and Musicians

Live-Music Event Venues Facebook Events shared on the VFMS Facebook webpage in the past four years (250+ venues)

Live-Music Events
in November 2023
this is new experimental webpage!
 

Nov 26 Multi-Feature: Nice Verdes • Carolina Bluebirds Duo • Brenda Morie & Diane Taylor
 Dec 03 Shinndig
 Dec 10 Clover Point Drifters
Dec 17 Another Celtic Christmas with Denis Donnelly and Friends
Dec 24 & 31: CLOSED for Christmas Eve & New Year’s Eve

Dec 05 Shinndig

Shinndig’s musical roots are in Celtic, English, Old-Time and Canadian traditional music – sure to set your toes to tapping! While still true to those roots, these days their wide-ranging repertoire embraces both traditional and modern music, a synthesis of the many influences of its members: Celtic, Morris, Jazz, Swing, Old-Time, Medieval, Folk Revival, Country, and more, giving a subtly unique flavour to any song or tune they adopt as their own.

Shinndig is: Ian Johnston on guitar, Dick Pollard on fiddle and saxophone, Karen Gillmore on Irish flute, pennywhistle, and banjo, Patty Castle on bass, and everyone on vocals.

Shinndig’s enthusiasm is contagious, and they believe that music is a fine thing to build a community around – whether through people coming together to dance or raising their voices to sing along in chorus.

Dec 12 Clover Point Drifters

The Clover Point Drifters, Victoria’s most ancient bluegrass band, return to our stage for the umpteenth time, spreading gifts of traditional bluegrass, with a bit of Xmas cheer.

They’ll have some new tunes on display, as well as select numbers from a 23-year repertoire. Their music is always engaging and entertaining, still stubbornly in the bluegrass groove: Alan Law (guitar), Mike Kraft (banjo), George Robinson (bass), Dan Parker (mandolin), and Larry Stevens (dobro).

Dec 17 Another Celtic Christmas with Denis Donnelly and Friends

I (Denis) love putting together “Seasonal Features” for our Folk Club, a very pleasant task I have been doing on and off since the 1980s. This year I’m bringing my wonderful 9-woman vocal group made up of former members of my vocal ensemble Soundings – Soundings is sadly no more, but these women keep that spirit alive with their beautiful harmonies and vibrant stage presence. I’ll also bring along my Irish harp and my long-time flute-playing colleague Lanny Pollet, and we’ll play some “Seasonal-related” instrumental tunes. And, I’ll lead you all in some Yuletide sing-along songs from places like Yorkshire, Ireland, and maybe even the Appalachians.

Dec 24 & Dec 31: C L O S E D

We are CLOSED for December 24 & December 31, but The Folk returns Sunday, January 7th, with Black Angus!

VFMS Features:

Sundays in November and December 2023 —


Guitar Fingerboard, Standard Tuning: notes of the D major scale:

D major scale—2 sharps—F# and C#.

six strings, 22 frets. Note: image is 300 pixels per inch, so you can zoom in on it…

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