The bluegrass band Avery Drive was founded by the Ducharme family, who are originally from River Valley. The band has become a staple at the bluegrass festivals held at the River Valley Bluegrass Park every summer. 
Brian Philippe and Irene Roy never miss a bluegrass festival in River Valley. Brian buys a T-shirt to commemorate each festival, and he’ll be showing off his impressive collection at the next festival over the long weekend in August. 
The Clément family and their friend Don St-Martin spend their evenings playing music around a campfire at the River Valley Bluegrass Park. 
Jasmine and Dylan Harvey are among the young people discovering the joys of bluegrass in River Valley. 
The band Simply Blu at the Country and Bluegrass Gathering festival in River Valley.
Joyce Beauchamp
Special to the Tribune
Back in August, 2025, I attended the River Valley Bluegrass Festival venue to speak with Cindy and Pat De Boer about their father’s legacy – how Tony De Boer had carved a premier music festival venue out of the bush in River Valley, eventually attracting bands from all over North America. This year I attended the Canada Day long weekend festival – the 39th annual RV Country and Bluegrass Gathering – to see and hear it for myself. Was the music still good enough to draw festival crowds? Or was bluegrass going out of style?
I paid the $50 day admission at the gate and was greeted by Mike and Ginette Lachance, who were very enthusiastic about the day’s lineup. “You’ll hear both country and bluegrass today. Both are great, and there are some great bands playing it.”
It was just after noon as I parked my vehicle and made my way to the band stand, where the band Old Tradition was playing their signature sound. I took a seat near the bandstand and my foot began tapping to the beat. Old Tradition is a staple at the festival, performing alongside a roster of top Canadian and North American acts. The audience was thin and quite senior, perhaps due to the hot afternoon sun. Next up was Simply Blu and I recognized the instruments and traditional sound: mandolin, guitar, double bass, banjo and fiddle; three-and four-part harmonies; and of course the stories told by song. These are the pillars of bluegrass.
I met up with Brian Philippe and Irene Roy. I had met Brian at the customer service desk at Home Hardware earlier in the week. At the time, he was wearing a River Valley Bluegrass Festival T-shirt and we struck up a conversation. He told me, “I have 57 of these T-shirts and I’ll be there with my wife this weekend because we just wouldn’t miss a Canada Day festival.” At the festival, Brian elaborated on the T-shirts, saying, “I buy a T-shirt to commemorate my being at each festival. Each one is unique. So that’s three T-shirts a year for the 32 years I’ve been attending. I might have missed one or two, but that adds up to 90-something T-shirts.” Brian plans to showcase his collection by hanging them on a long clothesline at the park at the next festival, which will be the strictly bluegrass festival on the August 1st long weekend.
