After 25 years, co-founder bids adieu to Fiddlers on the Tobique
The first time William Miller heard his friend play the Ashokan Farewell on the fiddle as they paddled down the Tobique River, he knew he'd stumbled upon something special.
"There was no running water, it was very calm, very quiet, no wind blowing. The sound of that tune just echoed up over the hill and it sounded so beautiful," he said.
That was twenty-five years ago. In the years since, the summer celebration dubbed Fiddlers on the Tobique gained national and international attention, drawing thousands of people to the small town of Nictau, New Brunswick, population: eight.
But Miller, a canoe builder by trade, said he's ready to put down the paddle and stop organizing the event. After having a stroke in the winter, he said he's simply too tired. So, Saturday of the Canada Day long-weekend was the last time he oversaw the vessels and musicians floating down the river.
"I feel a tremendous amount of satisfaction that such a simple idea, the simple idea of asking Ivan Hicks to come bring his fiddle down the river, such a simple idea could possibly turn into what it has," said the 73-year-old.
On Saturday, a few hundred people also gathered at his home, because he doesn't just organize the event, he allows people to use his farm as a campground.
The biggest year was 2003, where there were more than 7,000 people floating on the river, Miller said. He said that year was his favourite.
"Now if you look at a map you'll know that Nictau only has eight people but it's on the map," he said.
An inspiration
Alexandre Banks was eight years old when the celebration kickstarted his passion for fiddle, he said.
"It kind of inspired me so that's when I first started playing the fiddle," he said.
He's played fiddle on a canoe almost every year since then, and this year, at age 18, he played for Miller's last Fiddlers on the Tobique event.
He said he loves to play all kinds of fiddle music, even some classical, but he has an affinity for the traditional Acadian fiddle songs that are played every year on the river.
He said it's not extra challenging to play on a boat, but there are risks.
"It's not too bad, just don't drop the instruments in the water," he laughed.
'Unstoppable'
Miller said, while he's retiring, he doesn't know what the future holds for Fiddlers on the Tobique, he just knows people are still going to want to do it, especially since it's free.
"Fiddles on the Tobique has become really too big, it's unstoppable," he said. "It's really a way to start off the summer going each year and I cannot control the number of people who come each year."
