BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Longtime crowd favorites and a dash of new artists that offer traditional music, pub tunes and Celtic rock will highlight musical performers at the 36th Celtic Classic, festival organizers have announced.
Favorites Kilmaine Saints, Cassie & Maggie MacDonald, Glengarry Bhoys, Gerry Timlin and more will perform at the festival, which celebrates all things Irish, Scottish and Welsh, when it returns Sept. 22-24 to the festival grounds near downtown Bethlehem.
- Bethlehem's Celtic Classic, a celebration of all things Irish, Scottish and Welsh, announced performers for the 36th year, Sept. 22-24
- Favorites Kilmaine Saints, Cassie & Maggie MacDonald, Glengarry Bhoys, Gerry Timlin and more will perform
- In all, about 60 performances are scheduled over the festival's three days
The number of performers at the festival will be down again this year: 18 headliners over the three-day festival, compared with about 25 just a few years ago.
But performers again will play multiple sets throughout the festival on its five stages.
For example, Glengarry Bhoys will perform five times; Blackwater four and Cassie & Maggie MacDonald, Timlin, Jiggernaut, Killen Clark, The McKrells, Dave North Trio, Kilmaine Saints, Tempest, On The Lash, Heron Valley and Merc Lar three each.
The Lehigh Valley’s O’Grady Quinlan Academy dancers will perform 10 times over three days.
Timlin is making his 36th appearance at the festival, having never missed a Celtic Classic since its first year.
60 performances: Loved, latest, local
In all, about 60 performances are scheduled over the festival's run.
“There will be surprises every minute of the 2 ½ day weekend and it will be filled with Celtic presentations ranging from dance and music to traditional competitions, lectures, food and shopping.”Jayne Ann Recker, executive director of the Celtic Cultural Alliance, in a news release.
“There will be surprises every minute of the 2 ½ day weekend and it will be filled with Celtic presentations ranging from dance and music to traditional competitions, lectures, food and shopping,” Jayne Ann Recker, executive director of the Celtic Cultural Alliance, which presents the festival, said in a news release.
"With the outstanding support we've received from the community and from our sponsors, this year's festival is poised to be one of our largest celebrations of Celtic heritage while still remaining a free, family-friendly event."
Performing for the first time will be genre-busting quartet Mec Lir from the Isle of Man, who have performed at the famed Festival Interceltique de Lorient. The band fuses traditional music with electro synths and drums.
Also, Ireland’s On the Lash, which matches timeless sounds through original voices on classic songs and original constructions of established standards; Scotland’s Heron Valley, which plays energetic Celtic music; and Texas’s Jiggernaut, which plays traditional Celtic music.
More announcements to come
Local favorites Craig Thatcher & Nyke Van Wyck will return with their Celtic repertoire, along with Piper’s Request and Blackwater.
Blackwater, a high-energy, five-piece Pennsylvania/New Jersey group, has played the festival the past 10 years, and Tempest returns with its high-energy folk rock, fusing Irish reels, Scottish ballads and Norwegian influences with other world music.
Festival organizers say major announcements for the festival will continue throughout the summer.Celtic Classic news release
Piper’s Request, a band grounded in the roots of traditional Irish music, continues its run of several years back at the festival after an absence of several years.
Glengarry Bhoys also has brought its raucous blend of Scottish and roots music to Celtic Classic in recent years, as have Celtic rockers Kilmaine Saints.
Nova Scotians sisters Cassie and Maggie MacDonald blend traditional and contemporary Celtic instrumentals and vocals.
Festival organizers say major announcements for the festival will continue throughout the summer.
For more information on the Celtic Classic and other CCA events, go to www.celticfest.org.
