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Every summer in Pointe-Claire offers a bunch of amazing events, and this one has been no different! From celebrating our nation’s founding to days celebrating local communities and culture, and home to so many fundraisers for worthy causes, Pointe-Claire truly shows itself to be the heart of the West Island.

One of the events I was anticipating the most this summer was a free concert held at Stewart Hall Park on July 29th. The star of the concert was Juno Award-winning Lorraine Klaasen, a woman who has performed at Montreal’s International Jazz Festival and who brought the classic sound of South Africa’s “Township Music” to our waterfront.

The woman is an enormous talent, and she sings in the Tsonga, Sotho, isiZulu, and Xhosa languages of South Africa, as well as English and French. That’s a lot of languages, folks!

Lorraine’s mother was Thandie Klaasen, who I also once had the pleasure of seeing perform. A brilliant jazz musician whose career as a singer and dancer began in the mid-1950s, Thandie was a renowned South African jazz singer and a personal favourite of Nelson Mandela. She performed at his 80th birthday celebration and also at his wedding.

Thandie had a significant influence on Lorraine’s career, with Lorraine beginning to perform at a young age alongside her mother. Talk about keeping it in the family!

I hope you had a chance to see Lorraine perform. It was a very special show, and I certainly enjoyed it.

But don’t put those dancing shoes away just yet!

There are still more chances to enjoy Pointe-Claire’s musical offerings, with the biggest event of the summer yet to come. That's right, folks, I'm talking about the West Island Blues Festival, and your last chance to see it is on Saturday, August 29th in the Pointe-Claire Village!

The 23rd edition of the festival will be bringing a lot more than the blues to Pointe-Claire. There’s a diverse lineup scheduled, including Daylite Vampires, Whole Lotta Zeppelin, The Sugar Darlings, Old Soul, and Fired Up Band.

Not only will this be an amazing concert bringing people together through the power of music, but it will also be raising funds for local organizations, including West Island Mission, West Island Women’s Shelter, West Island Black Community Association, Literacy Unlimited, and the Volunteer Accompaniment Service (ABOVAS).

And a little birdie working on this paper suggested to me that I make mention of one last musical event being held on Saturday, September 5th, when Lyrics and Lemonade takes over Northview Park to raise funds for the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Made up of acts both young and old, this is a wonderful way to spend a hopefully sunny afternoon while supporting a great cause. And, yes, there will be lemonade! You can read all about it on page?!

So come on out, listen to some music, support some great organizations, and have a little fun. Now, doesn’t that sound like a pretty good Saturday?

I would love to meet my readers at any of these terrific events! If you’re planning on coming by, drop me an email and say hello. If not, you can find my next Bonnie’s Babble coming out in October.

Bottom line, I love living and dancing in Pointe-Claire!

Much love (and silliness)!

Bonnie’s Babble will be back in October. Bonnie is a local writer, stand-up mirror comic, hamster tamer, and twist-tie collector. Feel free to contact her at bonnierwords@gmail.com with any ideas you may have.