In the year 2000, I was in a fledgling Celtic duo that, on something of a whim, took a flight from Harrisburg to Halifax, rented a car and drove up to Cape Breton for this big festival we'd heard about. Through an almost comical sequence of events, we ended up on stage at the Festival Club on our first night there -- we arrived with instruments in hand because we were expecting a session, not a show -- and while our performance was laughable when compared to the amazing talents who followed us, it introduced us to some amazing people and gave us something of an insider's view of the festival, making our week in Cape Breton a far better experience than if we'd simply floundered along on our own.

Although my erstwhile partner never returned (and was replaced in the duo shortly thereafter as well), it became an annual pilgrimage for me for the next few years. I returned to the Celtic Colours International Festival in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007, and then again in 2012; circumstances, unfortunately, prevented me from attending more often, although each year I followed the festival online (which, while great, is not the same thing as being there in the least).

I got to know a lot of amazing musicians there over the years, along with some of the incredible volunteers and quite a few of the folks who run things from behind the scenes. One of them was Dave Mahalik, whose job was handling the media; since I covered the festival each year I went for this website (read all about it here), we interacted quite a bit. Shortly after my last visit to Cape Breton, I learned that Dave had written a book about the festival, so of course I had to have it.

It's title, 10 Nights without Sleep, is a perfect summary of the experience, considering that each day there was full from the moment you woke up until the nightly Festival Club ground to a close sometime around 3 a.m. (More often than not, things didn't end then, either.) I acquired a copy but didn't read it right away and, as sometimes happens, it got tucked away among my things and I forgot I had it. (Sorry, Dave!) But, having unearthed it recently, I had to rectify that mistake.

What a trove of memories!

Granted, much of what he describes happened at festivals before I started to go ... but the scenes are still very familiar. The places, many of the same faces, and of course the music ... it's a mainstay of the event, and Dave captures the feeling well. Events that he described during the years I attended always brought a smile to my face, as it never failed to shake loose a few fond recollections.

While much of the book focuses on Dave's role in the festival -- which started out as a volunteer driver while covering the music for a regional entertainment magazine before he slipped into his paid media position -- he offers plenty of insights into the tireless efforts of festival founders and show runners Max MacDonald and Joella Foulds and countless other paid and volunteer workers. As much as possible, he shares the experience of local and visiting musicians as well, and he spills some tea about dealing with the many print, radio and TV media types who clamored for his attention.

Imagine my surprise to discover myself in the book! Dave quotes liberally from some of the reviews and interviews I did there (again, all of which are still available for your perusal right here), and it was a lot of fun seeing again what I wrote about the festival decades ago.

10 Nights without Sleep reminds me how exhilarating being even a small part of Celtic Colours was for me, and why in so many ways no other festival I attended ever compared.

[ Visit the Celtic Colours website for more information on the event. ]