Come play with the qathet Fiddlers!

The qathet Fiddlers are a group of young musicians playing traditional and contemporary fiddle music on a variety of instruments.

Join us! qathet Fiddlers rehearse on Wednesdays 3:30pm to 5:13pm and are open to enthusiastic kids 6 to 18 years old. We include fiddle, cello, double bass, guitar and piano players in our group. We are keen to add cello players too! Players will ideally have at least 2 years experience and have taken private lessons to establish good technique. Exceptions apply, so please get in touch if you are interested! We have players across a range of skill levels and our arrangements accommodate intermediate to advanced musicians. Fiddle is an aural tradition and we learn all our tunes by ear - sight reading ability not required, but is helpful for the more advanced players.

Registration for September 2026-June 2027 is now open.

Please email hello@goodvibrationsstrings.ca to inquire about the group and how to join.

Tuition for September 2026-June 2027 is $900 for the year, payable in two payments of $450 (September and February), or monthly $90. This summer we will become a not-for-profit society, and hope to have som fundraising available to help with tuition. If you are interested in helping to support fiddle music in qathet, please get in touch! We are currently finalizing plans to rehearse at the new PRISMA Arts Hub in Townsite.

Beginner and intermediate players rehearse from 3:30pm-4:30pm, and advanced and rhythm section players (piano, guitar, bass) rehearse 4pm-5:30pm. We encourage everyone to attend for the whole 2 hours if possible, because listening is part of learning. However, we understand that schedules can be busy, so the listed times are the essential times to attend.

First rehearsal will be Wednesday, September 16th, 2026.

Our 2026/2027 Season will include an exchange with the Nanaimo group “Fiddelium”, a big Fall dance, performances for Christmas, Robbie Burns, St Patrick’s Day, a Spring Dance, Fiddle Summit Nanaimo, and many other gigs around town. We hope to host some smaller dances as well as our two big dances. We are in the beginning stages of planning an exchange to the Yukon and North West Territories for 2028! We host a monthly jam session on the last Monday of every month, click on the jam sessions tab to find out more.

Where can you hear us?

Fiddle music is the original party music! You can find us sharing music around the community at local events and markets. We are available for hire and we’re always fundraising to attend the annual West Coast Fiddle Summit. Your support is greatly appreciated!