Dry Stone Canada aims to host an event that is smaller than a festival, bigger than a workshop, and focused on sharing knowledge and perspective about working with dry stone. 

In 2020, before the pandemic, the Association had planned to host a small event on Amherst Island in this spirit. 

The McMullen Farm was the proposed location. The McMullen Farm is one of the oldest homes on the island, and it has a wall that is in dire need of repair. The McMullens are long time supporters and friends of Dry Stone Canada, and a popular spot for billeting and social time during our festivals on the Island. Audra McMullen has been dedicating her research to what inspires wallers to do the work they do and will be presenting some of her work for our Friday evening get together.

We had a very successful rebuild of the East part of a historical wall that they have along their property when we hosted the first symposium. We are now inviting you to the second part of this, to complete the west side of the wall. 

These rebuilds are open to our current membership, for those of all levels of walling. This is not an introductory course so knowing the basics of walling is a prerequisite for everyone enjoying their time. One of the great benefits of these events is getting to learn different approaches to walling, learning new techniques and getting to know new wallers from folks who might be your neighbors to folks from across the globe. 

We ask you to please sign up for the Festiposium so that we can make sure we have enough food, drink and accommodations for all. 

If you are not yet a member but would love to join us, we have 4 upcoming intro workshops you can sign up for to get the rudimentaries of walling. Check out our workshop list to sign up.

If hands-on walling is not your thing but you would love to participate in other ways, consider signing up for our stone carving workshop. Taught by Danny Barber from Ottawa, this course is open to all levels. Stone is included in the registration cost.

Schedule

A) Friendly/Inclusive Walling Competition, September 26 – Please sign up on the main page or email us if you want to participate, we promise it will be fun, friendly and we will have prizes! $25 entrance fee.

B) Wall Restorations and Cheekend Rebuilding, September 27-28 – Please let us know if you want to take on a cheekend, we have limited numbers, and we will have more experienced wallers lead each one, so it will be a learning opportunity. This part of the festiposium is open to all members and anyone who has taken a previous workshop with us (please join or renew your membership if needed) as it is a collective rebuild rather than an introductory workshop. All levels welcome.

C) Talks and Presentations in the Evenings – Friday will be a social for members and Saturday, we encourage the public to join us for talks and film screenings with our guest wallers from Greece, our number one walling fan and researcher, Audra McMullen and the award ceremony for the competition and some other little surprises.

D) Special Guests – Various international wallers have expressed interest in attending, and we have a special group of Greek wallers who have confirmed attendance.

E) Boveda-Build Demonstration (Brick masonry vault constructed without formwork) – A possibility (TBD)

F) A Beginner Stone Carving Workshop, September 27-28, with Danny Barber, he’s wonderful and has been running lots of workshops with us over the years. You can sign up for this workshop on our main page.

A more detailed schedule to follow.