“My 5-piece band and I are really looking forward to the festival,” Pettit says. “Festival du Bois is a fabulous community event, and it’s always a treat performing there.”

This year’s line-up also features artists from the French Canadian, Celtic, folk and world traditions, including B.C.’s Kutapira and Quebec’s La Déferlance.

Fiddling with the past

As a multicultural artist with Scottish, French, Irish, Chinese and Malaysian roots, Pettit has found an endless source of inspiration – and a distinctive music style. She will be joined by her band March 8 and 9 on the Grand Chapiteau/Main Stage; the artist will also be at Mackin House for a workshop on March 8.

“Sharing music with lovely audiences, collaborating with other artists, listening, learning, exploring, writing, teaching, and being open-minded helps keep me inspired,” she says.

Pettit – a fiddler, step dancer and singer – expertly integrates traditional repertoire with contemporary influences, honouring her Celtic and Folk heritages in a refreshing, joyful way that is communicated in the only universal language: music.

“I am passionate about sharing the joy, uplifting spirit and strong sense of community associated with tradition-based music,” she adds.

Pettit has understood her love for music since the young age of four. After witnessing legendary fiddler Natalie MacMaster perform one night, she was mesmerized, and knew from then on she wanted to become a fiddler. The passion she has nurtured throughout her life is palpable in her music, as is her dedication to inspiring audiences. She accredits what she has learned during her musical career, along with her joy of sharing music, to keeping this passion for art alive and growing.

“It’s wonderful to see audiences coming together and joining in the music – whether through clapping along, tapping feet, dancing or singing,” she says. “This shared connection is very special.”

At the Festival du Bois, Pettit will perform alongside her five-member band, showcasing not only the fiddle but vocals, piano, pipes, guitar, percussion and more. Traditional and original tunes alike will be shared alongside dynamic step dancing, bilingual voices and French-Canadian foot percussion podorythmie. The fiddler is excited to witness how tradition-based music not only inspires audiences, but connects them, too.

Beats unbound

Kutapira (March 9 at Grand Chapiteau/Main Stage and a workshop at Mackin House) began as a youth world music program initiative to fundraise for a trip abroad and consisted of 13 members under the ensemble name of Jabulani. Their current name – Kutapira – translates to “sweetness” in the Shona language of Zimbabwe – a description that captures what this percussion group serves to audiences in a delectable blend of Zimbabwean marimba and West African and Afro-Cuban drums.

“We just want to make people happy,” says Sangito Bigelow, a member of Kutapira which now has five core members. “We’ve had an amazing response from the public so far, and as long as people keep dancing to our music we will keep performing as Kutapira.”

Under the mentorship of their teachers at the World Rhythms for Youth music program, the members studied West African drumming, Afro-Cuban percussion and Zimbabwean marimba. Though taught separately, the budding musicians realized that they could combine their learning to create a unique fusion of sound – the “sweetness” that became Kutapira.

“We are a very multicultural group of boys playing a very multicultural blend of musical traditions,” adds Bigelow. “It’s all very Canadian…and along the way people from all different cultures have given us positive encouragement and feedback.”

Their innovative rhythms gained public recognition as the group busked on Vancouver streets, eventually bringing Kutapira to perform for Queen Elizabeth II in her summer home, Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. After seeing how their joy for music opened opportunities for travel, learning and exploration, the members knew this group would become something greater.

“The opportunity to perform, travel, attend music festivals, and make people happy with our music is something we truly value and prioritize,” says Bigelow. “After 20 years, many of us have branched out…but there is never any question about whether we will continue to perform as Kutapira.”

Audiences at the Festival du Bois will see the additions of the electric bass and guitar to Kutapira’s signature sound. And while the group will continue to explore new ways to push the bounds of their music, their message – like the steady beat of a drum – remains constant.

Rewriting the score

The rich Québécois culture is a focal point of the musical band La Déferlance (March 8 and 9 on Grand Chapiteau/Main Stage). The band is composed of Mathieu Baillargeon (piano, feet rhythms and vocals), Marie-Desneiges Hamel (accordion and vocals), Grégoire Painchaud (fiddle, guitar and vocals), and Renaud Labelle (bass, double bass and vocals). Their music not only refreshes existing traditional repertoire but also includes original pieces of their own inspirations.

“We don’t limit ourselves to the traditional functions of our instruments, and that makes our arrangements captivating,” says Hamel.

The wide range of musical experience found amongst the members allows them to access a world of techniques and outlets of creativity that defy musical norms. It may be customary for piano and double bass to be the accompaniment, and the voices of the fiddle and accordion to take on the melody, but La Déferlance reverses these traditional roles for a unique, captivating display of their respective talent. The group also incorporates unique musical strategies like foot rhythms and “slapping” the electric bass to make their music not only lyrical, but dynamic, too.

“We want to set the audience on fire and offer a unifying experience that’s good for the soul,” adds Hamel. “La Déferlance will deliver an energetic and polished performance full of joie de vivre.”

Though the group was formed fairly recently in 2018, La Déferlance has already earned nominations for the Canadian Folk Music Awards and an invitation to perform with a symphony orchestra. Inspired by traditional Quebecois music, their work reflects the “song to answer” format, Quebecois tales and legends, as well as language play. Hamel highlights how their songs use vocabulary that is historically informed and incorporates metaphoric language – with their own twist.

“Most of the lyrics we write are humorous and generally absurd, which is rare in the traditional milieu and makes our audience smile,” Hamel adds.

For more information, see: www.festivaldubois.ca/festival-artists-2025