Vinland Music Camp 2025
Vinland Music Camp’25 will take place at Lion Max Simms Memorial Camp in Bishops Falls, August 17-22, 2025.
Vinland Music Camp is a wonderful opportunity for people of all ages to improve their musical skills, write a song or two, learn some new tunes, tell some stories and do some folk dancing. It’s lots of fun and sure to be a great memory for years to come.
The principal instruments of instruction at VMC’25 will be button accordion, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, tenor banjo, tin whistle, ukulele and wooden flute – although you are welcome to bring other acoustic instruments. There will also be workshops in singing, songwriting, folk dancing, recitation and storytelling. There are different levels of instruction for some workshops, from beginners to advanced. Besides developing your performance skills, you will learn the history of the music and various approaches to interpreting it. And this year we will again be offering the popular Vinland Camp Choir and Vinland Folk Orchestra.
Special Guests:
ALLAN RICKETTS
A native of Torbay, Newfoundland, Allan Ricketts is a traditional musician and visual artist. He is a singer and multi-instrumentalist with his primary instruments being the bouzouki, tenor banjo, and accordion.
Allan has performed at many events including folk nights, concerts, traditional Irish sessions, and festivals including the Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival, and 2009 Stan Rogers Folk Festival.
Over the years, Allan has been nominated for a number of industry awards, including, ECMA, MusicNL and NLAC awards. With the assistance of MusicNL, Allan released two CDs. His debut CD “Allan Ricketts”, a fine CD of traditional songs, tunes and original compositions produced by Patrick Moran was released in December 2006. In August 2009, Allan released his second solo album “Rivers” produced by Kalem Mahoney. This CD has been nominated four times through the NL Arts Council, ECMA and MusicNL.
We welcome Allan as accordion instructor and our Special Guest, and look forward to his evening solo performance at camp!
CAROLE BESTVATER
Carole Bestvater is a freestyle fiddle player/violinist based in St. John’s, NL, Canada. She is at her happiest when playing and singing a wide diversity of different music, and is equally at home performing a variety of folk and classical genres. Carole is an in-demand session player, performer, and music educator, always striving to share her joy of music making with those around her.
Most often, Carole can be found collaborating in groups such as Youngtree & The Blooms, Youngtree & Carole Bee, Topanga, Lady Lupin, High & Lonesome Bluegrass Band, Crooked Stovepipe, the Strong Harbour Strings Collective, or the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Even though she is an in-demand collaborator, she also makes rare appearances as a solo performer. Carole is also deeply passionate about sharing the transformative power of music, which she does with the Strong Harbour Strings Program, and as a Suzuki-method educator.
We welcome Carole as our Special Guest, hope to see her drop inon fiddle and song classes, and look forward to her evening solo performance!
More About Camp…
Instructors
Instructors at the Vinland Music Camp, collectively known as Lomond Sound, are among the most experienced and skilled in the province. This year’s instructors are: Allan Ricketts (accordion), Christina Smith (fiddle/Folk Orchestra/Nfld Tunes), Hugh Scott (songwriting), Gerry Strong (tin whistle/flute), Dave Panting (mandolin/tenor banjo), Gary Green (storytelling/recitations/harmonica), Jane Dennison (set dance), Jean Hewson (Songs of NL, Camp Choir & Folk Orchestra), Madison Mouland (guitar/bodhran/Camp Choir) and Eric West (guitar/ukulele).
Program
The program includes daily workshops and evening activities. Workshops consist of instrumental and vocal techniques, songwriting, storytelling, folk dancing and group performing. There are also evening concerts, camp dances, special guest workshops, campfires and Variety Show Night – a fun evening of skits, songs and magical performances on Wednesday night. The final concert, featuring Camp participants and staff instructors, takes place on Thursday evening. See the Schedule below for times of all the concerts and other events.
Sheet music, lyrics, and instrument-tabs will be available for download ahead of Camp. You’re encouraged to print and bring the materials for your classes, but you don’t have to learn everything ahead of time!
Accommodations
Lion Max Simms Memorial Camp is located in Bishops Falls, about 10km from the TCH via the Bay d’Espoir Highway (Route 360). The camp offers 38 rooms and can accommodate 96 people at capacity. The fully licensed commercial kitchen and dining room are staffed with experienced cooks and kitchen staff. Designed as a camp for special needs, the location is housed under one roof and is completely accessible. See our FAQ page for more information.
Recreation
Lion Max Simms Camp also has a basketball court and access to a hiking trail. And, for anglers, the Camp is close to the Exploits River, a licensed salmon fishing river.
2025 Schedule
Please read the Class Descriptions and Workshop Descriptions for this year’s Camp to choose your classes and workshops before registering. “Classes” are held at the same time for 4 days; “Workshops” are single events. The 2025 Schedule is listed here and shown in a grid layout below. The camp will follow the usual arrangement of Sunday arrival and classes/activities from Monday to Thursday, with campers’ departure on Friday. Note that the camp is five days in total, with four days of instruction.
If you have questions, please contact the Camp Director, Evelyn Osborne.
sunday (August 18)
2:00-5:00pm -- Arrival/check-in
5:00-6:00pm -- Supper
8:00pm -- Orientation Concert
Monday-ThursDay (August 18-21) Daily Schedule:
8:00am -- Breakfast
9:00-11:45am -- Classes
12:00pm -- Lunch
1:00-2:45pm -- Recreation and Practice Time
1:00-1:45pm Mon/Tues/Thurs — Special Workshops
3:00-4:45pm -- Classes
5:00pm -- Supper
6:00pm -- Camp Choir and Evening Jam Session
7:00pm -- Evening concerts
8:00pm -- Dancing
9:00pm -- Campfires
Special Events:
Monday (August 18)
7:00pm -- SPECIAL GUEST CONCERT
Tuesday (August 19)
7:00pm -- SPECIAL GUEST CONCERT
Wednesday (August 20)
1:00-1:45pm -- “All Together Now” Music and Song Session
7:00pm -- Variety Show Night
Thursday (August 21)
6:00-9:00pm -- Final Concert
friday (August 22)
10:00am -- Camp ends
Vinland Music Camp 2025
Schedule (Monday-Thursday)
| Room / Time | Jack Badcock Room | A. J. Baker Room | Terry Fox Room | Gym | Games Room | (Extra room) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 - 9:00 | Breakfast | |||||
| 9:00 - 9:45 | Harmonica for Beginners | Fiddle Techniques 2 | Songs of NL | Mandolin/Banjo 2 | Tin Whistle 1(a) | |
| 10:00 - 10:45 | Accordion 2 | Newfoundland Tunes | Ukulele 1 | Set Dance 1 | Tin Whistle 2 | Musical Literacy |
| 11:00 - 11:45 | Storytelling | Fiddle Techniques 1 | Guitar 2 | Mandolin/Banjo 3 | Songwriting (a) | |
| 12:00 - 1:00 | Lunch | |||||
| 1:00 - 1:45 | Special Workshops | |||||
| 2:00 - 3:00 | Recreation / Free Time | |||||
| 3:00 - 3:45 | Recitations | Guitar 1 | Ukulele 2 | Set Dance 2 | Tin Whistle 1(b) | |
| 4:00 - 4:45 | Bodhran | Accordion 1 | Vinland Folk Orchestra | Mandolin/Banjo 1 | Songwriting (b) | |
| 5:00 - 6:00 | Supper | |||||
| 6:00 - 6:45 | Evening Jam Session | Vinland Camp Choir | ||||
| 7:00 - 8:00 | Evening Concert | |||||
| 8:00 - 9:00 | Evening Dance | |||||
| 9:00 - 10:00 | Campfire | |||||
A brief history of the Camp
Vinland Music Camp was started in 2001 by Eric West after working as a musician in residence in Gros Morne National Park the previous year. With the assistance of Daniel Payne and guest instructors Shirley Montague and Gayle Tapper, the first Camp started modestly with an enrollment of eleven students. Over the years the camp has grown in size and scope to include instruction in over a dozen instruments, as well as singing, songwriting, storytelling, and folk dancing. Presently about 50 people attend each year from across Canada, the US, and other countries. The Camp now employs ten full-time instructors – some of the top professional artists in the province. Each year we also invite special guest artists to give workshops and concerts. Since 2009 Vinland Music Camp has been run by the Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation – a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching and preserving the folk arts of Newfoundland and Labrador. More information about our organization can be found here.
