Come one, come all to the Celtic New Year Festival!

Celebrate the Celtic New Year

Celtic culture comes alive at the Ceili of the Valley’s second annual Samhain Celtic New Year Festival, which features a day of hands-on experience 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017, at Grant Community School, 725 Market St. NE.

Honoring the seven Celtic Nations (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Galicia and Isle of Man), the event is a day of immersive live music, speakers, workshops and educational hands-on activities that are fun for the whole community.

Learn about the Celtic roots of Halloween. See demonstrations of art, cooking and dance. Take part in a workshop for fiddle, whistle, uilleann pipes and bodhran. Listen to stories of the wee folk and faeries, Celtic history and heritage. Visit the children’s area for opportunities in printmaking, clay working, coloring, knot creation and more. New this year, kids can take part in a mini highland games and test their skills at the caber toss, sheaf toss, and welly throw.

Celtic culinary delights, such as potato soup, cock-a-leekie soup, and bubble and squeak soup, will be available for purchase between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Additional items, including salad, soda bread, scones, apples, cookies, tea and coffee, will be available for purchase during the entire festival.

The day’s festivities will conclude with an evening concert featuring the day’s headlining performers, Dréos,  from 7 to 9 p.m. at the VFW Hall, 630 Hood St. NE, just a block from the Grant School campus. Dréos combines the blazing piping of Eliot Grasso, virtuosic fiddling of Brandon Vance, and powerhouse accompaniment of Glen Waddell to offer listeners exciting, handcrafted music in a living tradition, and brings audiences and students into a centuries-old cultural-artistic dialogue.

Admission to the Samhain Festival is $10 adult and $5 students. Free for children younger than 12. Concert admission is $15. There is a $5 discount on the concert with a Festival wristband. 

For Festival tickets, click here. For Concert tickets, click here.