Jocelyn Pettit was just four years old when her parents took her to see a Natalie McMaster concert, an event that turned out to be a fateful one.
The famed Cape Breton fiddler made a lasting impact on the young Squamish girl, who vowed to one day play the fiddle herself.
"I was just mesmerized," Pettit recalled. "I don't remember saying this, but apparently I said when I was eight I want to play the fiddle - and that's what happened and I haven't looked back."
Now 17, Pettit will be opening the 23rd annual Festival du Bois at noon on March 3 at Mackin Park in Coquitlam.
She released her first CD last year and was recently nominated for two Canadian Folk Music Awards; she's also working on a new EP project, but it's performing for a crowd that really gets Pettit fired up.
"We love to play at French celebrations and we've done several in the Lower Mainland, they're really fun," Pettit said.
This year's line-up includes several young artists, including fellow B.C. residents and sibling duo Qristina and Quinn Bachand and Quebec's Guillaume Arsenault.
"We're trying to give focus to the younger audience for them to be in a place where they see things are possible, that music can be really exciting, for them to be mesmerized and happy to see what they see," said Johanne Dumas, Festival du Bois' artistic and executive director.
Arsenault is already in the Tri-Cities, touring schools for interactive workshops with local students.
"He is someone who takes a typewriter and makes music with that," Dumas said. "He has a system that makes different noises, records that sequence and adds it to guitar sounds to create a melody. And we found the kids are really excited and happy, and saying, 'What is that program you're using?'"
That kind of joy and curiosity are what Dumas hopes Festival du Bois brings to audiences of all ages, whether you're dancing along to Pettit's Celtic beat or enjoying Les Jammers.
"I think people will come to the festival and leave very happy with what they see," Dumas predicts. "The quality of the performers is as high, if not higher, than what has been in the past."
Festival du Bois runs March 3 and 4 at Mackin Park in Maillardville. Tickets for daytime general admission are $12 for adults, $5 for children (five to 12 years old) and $8 for seniors and students. A family package for the day is $30 (two adults and two children). A pancake breakfast is on Sunday.
Visit festivaldubois.ca.
