Canada's insider blog

Heading for Cape Breton, NS’s Celtic Colours International Festival last week, I had two goals in mind: getting face time with fiddlers and seeing fabulous autumn foliage. Accomplishing the former was easy. (In fact, I ran into Mairi Rankin—a member of one of the island’s most renowned musical clans—before I left the Halifax airport.) The latter proved a bit more elusive.

Experienced leaf peepers know various factors determine the vibrancy of the colours in a given season. Weather, wind, elevation… all play a part. The beauty of Cape Breton as a fall destination, though, is that even in a year when the trees aren’t as vivid as usual, you can still find camera-ready vistas if you’re prepared to log a few miles in the car. On waterside routes—especially those within Cape Breton Highlands National Park the landscape is so diverse, and the contrast created by sea and sky so dramatic, that eye-popping pictures are virtually guaranteed.

Catch some video highlights of this year’s festival.

Read more about Cape Breton.