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2023 Celtic Quilt Raffle
Enter to win this custom-designed, one-of-a-kind Celtic quilt with beautiful, intricate hand-quilted knotwork created by Lesli Ficker. The design of the quilt is called “Irish Chain” and it has a delightful, hand-appliqued border. Quilt size is 90″square. The raffle will take place at the 2023 Samhain Celtic New Year Festival on Saturday, October 21 at Willamette Heritage Center. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20.
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2023 Samhain Festival headliner is Two Rivers Ceili Band
For over 50 years, our region has been rich with Irish music and Irish dance. Dancers have enjoyed céilí (Irish social) and set dancing to great live music, and learned step dancing and Sean-Nós (old-style) dancing from great teachers. What the region hasn’t had was a dedicated céilí band–that is, musicians committed to providing music for céilí and set dancing. The Two Rivers Céilí Band assembled in July 2022 to remedy this. In Ireland and worldwide, céilí bands represent the talents of their locality. Two Rivers Céilí Band well represents our region with fiddles, flutes, whistles, uilleann pipes, guitar, piano and song. Our members: Niamh Branigan is a fiddle player…
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SAVE THE DATE!
The 2023 Samhain Celtic New Year Festival will take place on Saturday, October 21. It will return to the heart of Salem at the Willamette Heritage Center. Watch for more information coming soon. We will be looking for sponsors, presenters, vendors and a headline performer!
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Celtic Quilt Raffle
Enter to win this colorful, custom-designed quilt with beautiful, intricate hand-quilted details. Leslie Ficker has once again created a one-of-a-kind quilt to be raffled at the Samhain Celtic New Year Festival. The quilt is 86 inches x 64.5 inches and has a beautiful Celtic knotwork border. Tickets are $5.00 each or 5 tickets for $20.00. Detail Photo:
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Biddy on the Bench headlines the 2022 festival!
Step into a world of Celtic culture at the Ceili of the Valley’s annual Samhain Celtic New Year Festival 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in the Spinning Room at the Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill St. SE. Learn to sing a shanty. Try your feet at set dancing. Explore Celtic history and heritage. Listen to stories of the wee folk and faeries. Visit the family area for opportunities to craft. Shop vendors of a cultural nature. The festival offers a wide variety of experiences, information and opportunities for all ages, including mini highland games where kids can test their skills at the caber toss, sheaf toss,…
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2022 Schedule Posted
The 2022 Samhain Celtic New Year Festival schedule has been posted! Check it out and plan now to make the most of this fun, family-friendly event! Click here for schedule. And learn more about our Vendors here. And the Presenters & Exhibitors here.
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Vendors, Performers & Exhibitors Wanted!
The Ceili of the Valley Society (CVS) is excited to announce its seventh annual Samhain Celtic New Year Festival to be held Saturday, October 22, 2022. The mission of the Ceili of the Valley Society is to promote Irish and Celtic culture mainly through music and dance. Ceili of the Valley Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and is a participating Oregon Cultural Trust non-profit. Applications are open for vendors, performers and exhibitors! What are we looking for? The Samhain Celtic New Year Festival is an educational family-friendly introduction of Celtic culture to the community. Vendor merchandise should be Celtic-related and family appropriate. Interested in being a vendor? Click here. The…
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2022 Samhain Festival set for Oct 22
— Save The Date — The Samhain Celtic New Year Festival returns in person this year! It will be held on Saturday, October 22nd in the Willamette Heritage Center Spinning Room.
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Join us for the 2021 Samhain Celtic New Year Festival!
The Ceili of the Valley Society invites you to the 6th annual Samhain Celtic New Year Festival — a month-long celebration happening during October 2021 and highlighting all things Celtic, with a special focus on Scotland. In addition to a variety of content featured on the Samhain website, this year’s festival includes online and in-person events: Pan Celtic Ceili on Friday, October 8, featuring musicians D’n’A and four callers doing dances from the Celtic nations. Doors open at 7 p.m. with instruction about 7:20 and music beginning at 8. No experience or dance partner is necessary. Bring water. There will not be a snack table. $10 per person, pay at…
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Genealogy Workshop on May 20
Ceili of the Valley Society presents Finding Your Roots, a free virtual genealogical workshop. In this brief session, we will only be able to scratch the surface of the many aspects of Genealogy and Family History. Each point covered deserves one or more sessions. But, hopefully, you will leave with an overview and a working understanding of some basics. Naturally, we can’t escape the classic “Who, What, Where, Why, When, How.” Who does genealogy? Millions of people- including you? What is Genealogy? Is it the same as Family History? Why do it? Then, as we consider the “Where, When, and How” you will be introduced to some of…