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18
Jan 2008
Celtic Festivals On Tap in Pennsylvania This Winter
Posted in Celtic Corner, Festival Focus by Michael Kornfeld at 12:27 pm |

Pennsylvania can be pretty cold during the wintertime.  But there will be plenty of Celtic music to warm your souls.  The 16th Annual Greater Philadelphia Mid-Winter Scottish and Irish Music Festival takes place at the Valley Forge Convention Center in King of Prussia, Friday, Feb. 15 through Sunday, Feb. 17; while the 2nd Annual Winter Classic: a Gathering of the Celts is set for Saturday and Sunday, March 1 and 2 at Lehigh University’s Rauch Field House in Bethlehem.

Among the artists scheduled to perform during the festival in King of Prussia are Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas (the noted Scots fiddler and young cellist), Old Blind Dogs (the 2007 “Folk Band of the Year” in the Scots Trad Music Awards), Screaming Orphans (the thoroughly enjoyable, folk-rockin’ Diver Sisters from Donegal), Brother, Albannach, Searson, Scythian, Greenwich Meantime, Scocha, Hadrian’s Wall, Rick Kurek, Timlin & Kane, Paddy’s Well, Slide Show Baby, Charlie Zahm, Dan Stacey, Oliver McElhone, MacLeod Fiddlers, and Companions of the Cross.   Presented by East of the Hebrides Entertainments, the festival opens with a kick-off concert on Friday night at 7:30 and runs through Sunday night at 8 p.m.  A skirl of bagpipes will open the festival each morning.  Also on tap (besides Guinness) are  a fiddle jam and traditional music seisun; ceili/ceilidh dancing; Scottish step dance classes; Irish, Scottish and Canadian dancers; whiskey and wine tastings, and lots of food.  Tickets are $22 daily ($18 for Friday night) if purchased by Feb. 7 or $25 at the door, while children 12 and under will be admitted free.  For more information, call (610) 825-7268.

Bethlehem’s Gathering of the Celts will include performances by The Saw Doctors (Ireland’s most popular folk-rock band), The Prodigals (the New York-based rock n’ reel outfit fronted by singer-songwriter-accordionist Gregory Grene) and Cathie Ryan (Michigan-based singer-songwriter and former lead singer of Cherish the Ladies).  Presented by the Celtic Cultural Alliance, the same nonprofit organization that has hosted the popular Celtic Classic each fall since 1988, the sophomore Winter Classic is a celebration of Celtic culture and heritage that also will feature pipe band performances, dance, Highland athletic and border collie demonstrations, plus a wide array of crafts and food.  Also providing musical entertainment will be Giveway (a group of four Scottish sisters), Clandestine (Texas Celtic musicians), and Scythian (a band that fuses trad., Gypsy, Celtic, Klezmer and rock stylings with dueling fiddles).  Tickets for the rain or shine festival are $19 daily (in advance) and $22 at the door; $34.50 for both days (in advance) and $38 at the door.  The advance ticket price applies to seniors and students at the door.  Children under 10 will be admitted free.  For more information, call (610) 868-9599 or visit www.celticculturalalliance.org

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