Massive Vancouver guitar festival is coming back to the city this fall
Daily Hive, JuLY 19, 2022

Music lovers will be flocking to the Olympic Village neighbourhood this fall for the return of an annual six-string celebration.

Vancouver International Guitar Festival (VIGF), happening from September 24 to 25 at the Creekside Community Recreation Centre, is a showcase of the art and craft of the world’s finest acoustic and electric guitar makers.

Five shred-friendly things to do at this weekend’s Vancouver International Guitar Festival
Vancouver courier, June 27, 2019

Through thick and thin — wood or otherwise — you will always see a Jimmy Page or Bonnie Raitt in waiting, plying their craft on the top deck of a B.C. ferry or at Third Beach.

Those looking to scratch that six-string itch would do well to catch this weekend’s Vancouver International Guitar Festival, which returns this weekend for its third iteration in the city.

Five reasons to checkout the Vancouver International Guitar Festival
Vancouver Sun, June 26, 2019

Internationally recognized Canadian luthier Robert Godin oversees five guitar factories in Quebec (and one in New Hampshire).

Guitar maker Robert Godin aims to make instruments that open up new sonic possibilities
Georgia Straight, June 26, 2019

Were Robert Godin a philosopher, he’d most likely be a disciple of Jeremy Bentham, the 18th-century Brit who famously coined the maxim “the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the measure of right and wrong.”

The founder and CEO of Canada’s largest guitar company has certainly made thousands of musicians happy, mostly with very good guitars that sell for even better prices.

This North Van duo are known worldwide for their guitar finishing expertise
North Shore News, June 14, 2019

North Van luthiers Rob Bustos and John Regehr will give a modern guitar finishing workshop during the Vancouver International Guitar Festival on June 29. Tickets and info: vancouverguitarfestival.com

Like a closing pitcher ready to seal the deal, guitar finishers thrive on perfection.

The final stage in guitar production – the finishing – is critical. It takes a steady hand and laser sharp focus on the part of the luthiers. An extra iota of lacquer can affect the tone, durability and playability of the instrument.

NO NEED TO FRET, VANCOUVER GUITAR FESTIVAL IS BACK AND BIGGER THAN EVER
VANCOUVER COURIER, AUGUST 7, 2018

Meredith Coloma couldn’t care less about hockey, but she’s got a lot in common with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Coloma is co-founder of the Vancouver International Guitar Festival and the parallels between puck pursuits and six strings are uncanny.

Both the festival and hockey team accomplished first-year success that few could’ve predicted. Neither had a reference point to guide them, both laid roots in untapped markets.

The jury’s out on whether the Knights can return to the Stanley Cup final, but the guitar festival is undeniably winning in its second year.

THE VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL RETURNS TO THE CITY
THE DAILY HIVE, JULY 25, 2018

Guitar fanatics and music lovers will be flocking to the Vancouver International Guitar Festival, an annual celebration taking place in August.

The two-day event celebrates and showcases the art and craft of the world’s finest acoustic and electric guitar makers.

Master luthiers (makers of stringed instruments) from across Canada, the United States, and Europe will have an array of electrics, acoustics, ukeleles, and basses on display, as well as the ability to do custom commisions.

VANCOUVER GUITAR FESTIVAL BUILDS COMMUNITY AROUND CRAFTSPERSON
GEORGIA STREET, AUGUST 8, 2018

More than a half-century on from his apprenticeship in Spain, Michael Dunn recalls some good advice—advice that continues to inform the various guitars and ukuleles that emerge, slowly, from his East Vancouver workshop.

“One of my maestros, a guitarmaker I worked with, said that you should be able to take a close-up picture of six different parts of a guitar, and anybody looking at them should be able to tell that they all come from the same instrument,” Dunn relates, in a telephone interview from his home. And that, he doesn’t need to add, should be easy enough to do when it comes to his own creations. Although they owe a stylistic debt to early-20th-century innovators such as Mario Maccaferri and Chris Knutsen, Dunn’s guitars also often incorporate elements drawn from visual-arts movements such as cubism and art deco.

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL BUILDS COMMUNITY AROUND CRAFTSPERSON
BEATROUTE, AUGUST 8, 2018

VANCOUVER – Whether you strum, fingerpick or slide you’ll be excited to know the Vancouver International Guitar Festival is back. On August 11 and 12, the best guitar builders will come together at the Creekside Community Centre for a weekend dedicated to Eric Clapton´s true love.

The festival, created by local luthier Meredith Coloma and producer Shaw Saltzberg, is a unique opportunity for guitar builders, players, collectors and aficionados to mingle alongside some of the world´s finest string instruments.
“We are the only festival in Canada of this size presenting handmade work in combination with, concerts, live music, master classes for guitar building, master classes for guitarists and a live music bar with eight of the world´s great guitar players,” says Saltzberg.

Music agent turned guitar maker talks craft
Vancouver courier, August 3, 2018

VANCOUVER – Whether you strum, fingerpick or slide you’ll be excited to know the Vancouver International Guitar Festival is back. On August 11 and 12, the best guitar builders will come together at the Creekside Community Centre for a weekend dedicated to Eric Clapton´s true love.

The festival, created by local luthier Meredith Coloma and producer Shaw Saltzberg, is a unique opportunity for guitar builders, players, collectors and aficionados to mingle alongside some of the world´s finest string instruments.
“We are the only festival in Canada of this size presenting handmade work in combination with, concerts, live music, master classes for guitar building, master classes for guitarists and a live music bar with eight of the world´s great guitar players,” says Saltzberg.

Ordinarily, it’s tough to fire someone close to you – but not this time. Shaw Saltzberg was a newly minted booking agent but, inexperienced as he was, he knew who to keep and who to release. It was the early 1980s. Saltzberg was working with a small stable of singers who all showed promise except for one: Shaw Saltzberg. For the previous two years Saltzberg had been singing pop songs and folk tunes in pubs, bars and restaurants all over B.C. But when Saltzberg started representing himself as an agent, he began to question his choice of clientele.

“My big turning point in my early career was when I had to drop myself from my own roster,” he recalls. Nearly 40 years after sending that lonely guitar man down the road, Saltzberg laughs and re-imagines the final conversation. “Hey man, you can’t cut it . . . We had a good relationship but it’s time for you to move on,” he imagines telling himself.

The Vancouver International Guitar Festival returns to the city next month
The Daily Hive, July, 2018

Guitar fanatics and music lovers will be flocking to the Vancouver International Guitar Festival, an annual celebration taking place in August. The two-day event celebrates and showcases the art and craft of the world’s finest acoustic and electric guitar makers.

Master luthiers (makers of stringed instruments) from across Canada, the United States, and Europe will have an array of electrics, acoustics, ukeleles, and basses on display, as well as the ability to do custom commisions. Master classes will also take place throughout the weekend, where industry leaders share their expertise on different techniques, new technology in the industry, maintenance and repair, as well as transforming theory into practice.

A New Era For Guitar Shows: The La Conner Guitar Festival and the Vancouver International Guitar Festival
Fretboard journal, july 2017

What makes a great guitar festival? I suppose it’s a bit like a good dinner party: You need a decent turnout (preferably with actual buyers), you need memorable servings (that would be guitars, in our case), a good, organized layout, but—just as important—there needs to be some positive energy in the air. And that last part, the true x-factor, is nearly always the hardest to pull off.

The Pacific Northwest has been lucky enough to have two great guitar festivals recently – both brand new and totally different. On Mother’s Day weekend 2017, La Conner, a sleepy little waterside hamlet in Washington State, held the La Conner Guitar Festival, an all-acoustic showcase featuring some of the country’s finest luthiers. (We sponsored it and covered it extensively here.) And then a month later, 100 miles to the north in Canada, we attended the debut of the Vancouver International Guitar Festival.... 

Creativity Meets Sustainability at the Vancouver International Guitar Festival
Reverb, June 29, 2017

It used to be that the question “Who played it?” was a key determinant in gauging the caliber of an item of guitar gear. These days, however, we’re fronting better, more incisive questions, like “Who built it?” and “Where did it come from?”

From June 23 to 25, guitarists had both questions answered at the first ever Vancouver International Guitar Festival. The event gathered a diverse group of sage and startup luthiers alike, whose handicraft told the vibrant story of Canadian guitar builders on the national and international stage....

Exhibitors showcase handcrafted guitars at Vancouver Int'l Guitar Festival
Xinhuanet, june 26, 2017

Luthier Michael Greenfield displays his handcrafted guitar valued 26,000 US dollars at the Vancouver International Guitar Festival in Vancouver, Canada, June 24, 2017. The 2-day Vancouver International Guitar Festival kicked off here on Saturday with more than 60 exhibitors showcasing their handcrafted guitars from around the world.

Meredith Coloma, Vancouver's luthier extrordinaire
CBC NORTH BY NORTHWEST, June 24, 2017

Before she was old enough to vote, Meredith Coloma had apprenticed under the likes of Rodger Sawdowsky who has built guitars for some of the world's biggest rock stars, including Bruce Springsteen and Prince...

Festival international de guitares à Vancouver
Phare Ouest de Radio-Canada à Vancouver, June 22, 2017

Québec-based luthier Marc Saumier discusses the upcoming Vancouver International Guitar Festival in this French-language interview.

Guitar festival shines spotlight on luthier’s craft
Westender, June 20, 2017

From the student dorm to the stadium stage, the global popularity of the guitar is indisputable. So it’s curious that their construction remains something of an unrecognized art.

Perhaps that’s because it takes a certain type of person to build a guitar from scratch; someone like Andy Powers, who has been doing it since he was a kid....

Guitar heroes: Vancouver festival to celebrate luthiers and their craft
vancouver sun, june 20, 2017

Linda Manzer remembers it like it was yesterday, even though it happened in 1996. She moved her spray gun slowly from side to side, passing a blue mist over the soundboard of the guitar with hypnotic precision, gradually layering colour on the instrument she had painstakingly built. Manzer, a master luthier, had already toiled more than 100 hours on the project....

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL players and makers come together in the tone zone
BEATROUTE, JUNE 19, 2017

Meredith Coloma is a luthier. She meticulously handcrafts her instruments, shaping British Columbian wood into magnificent stringed boxes of expression. Side-by-side with students, Coloma teaches her fine skills and shares her experiences. It was in one of her building classes where she met Shaw Saltzberg. He asked Coloma what was next on the young and experienced luthier’s list of aspirations...

A celebration of strings, shredders and the wonder of wood
Vancouver Courier, June 16, 2017

Jean Larrivée has a pretty sweet set-up for a guy in his golden years: constant California sun, a huge yard and a golf course right across the street from his home.

And yet he prefers to putter around an indoor shop, covered in dust and wood chips from head to toe.

“I don’t like golfing and gardening is not for me even though I have a big garden,” Larrivée told the Courier from his home in Oxnard, Calif. “It’s one of those things where you become addicted — after 50 years of building guitars, you don’t just walk away from it.” ...

Vancouver International Guitar Festival celebrates six-string art
Georgia Straight, June 14, 2017

It’s bringing builders and buyers from all over the world into town; features workshops, performances, and master classes; and is aimed at celebrating the world’s most popular musical instrument. So, as a title, “Vancouver International Guitar Festival” seems perfectly appropriate—if a little subdued, for what’s really going on could just as easily be called “The Art of the Guitar”...

Guitar-makers from around the world gather for the first Vancouver International Guitar Festival
Inside Vancouver, June 13, 2017

From June 23-25, guitar makers, players, collectors and aficionados will gather for the first event of its kind in Western Canada. The inaugural Vancouver International Guitar Festival is three days of master classes, workshops, exhibitions and special events taking place at The Chinese Cultural Centre (50 E. Pender St.). There’s also live music, including a show from Hayley McLean. Fender recently listed the former Vancouverite as #1 of the Top 10 Guitar Goddesses, calling her “the notable Canadian beauty [who] is positively bursting with talent.”...