Wall building at the Dry Stone Canada Festiposium 2025

Recently we had the joy and honour to accept a special invitation, which allowed us to realise our first participation abroad. We were invited by Dry Stone Canada  and took part in the Festiposium 2025 which was held on Amherst Island in Lake Ontario, Canada, from 26 to 28 September 2025.

The Festiposium was a meeting opportunity for the members of the Association, friends of dry stone in general, as well as residents of Amherst Island, where the largest concentration of Irish type dry stone walls in Canada is found. Starting in 2015, the Dry Stone Canada team has realised more events on the island, with participants from other countries too, mainly Ireland, the UK and the USA. Through these events, free standing walls are restored, many of whom have been officially designated as dry stone heritage.

This year, the centre of the event was the McMullens’ farm, where apart from the restoration of the wall, meals and evening events took place. A second, smaller restoration project took place in the Hitchins farm.

Maria Nomikou and Semeli Drymoniti, members of the Mitato of Amorgos, attended the Festiposium as guests of the organisers and worked with the team at the Hitchins farm. Our cooperation with the experienced Canadian and American craftsmen was particularly fruitful as we learned new techniques, exchanged ideas regarding the practice and materials, while we also had the chance to work under the guidance of a certified trainer.

On the evening of Saturday 27 September, at the McMullens’ farm, a series of presentations was realised, among them one by the Mitato of Amorgos. We presented the island of Amorgos, with its rich cultural heritage and impressive dry stone stock, as well as our projects, comparing the advantages and difficulties with those of similar projects in Canada. The evening was complete with a draw and live music, during which we offered the traditional liquor of our island “psimeni raki”.

The Festiposium 2025 also included a wall building competition, supervised by a certified trainer, a carving class, a boveda-build demonstration (brick masonry vault constructed without formwork), live music events, screening of a movie dedicated to an Irish dry stone craftsman and of course many interesting talks, based on personal experiences as well as articles and books available on the spot.

A warm Τhank Υou to the organisers who gave us the chance to realise this long trip and see their amazing work. And of course, our gratitude is endless towards George Kapelos and Martin McLachlan, our Canadian loyal friends of Amorgos, who apart from being the first point of contact with the heritage of Amherst Island, they were also our hosts during the whole trip. Last but not least, we thank Annick Mitchell who hosted us in her beautiful home.