Breaking News: Two More Special Guests for
CelticFest 2008

Two new additions for the 17th annual CelticFest: a familiar face and an oddly familiar face.

Viruoso uilleann piper Tim Britton is coming as our third music headliner! Tim is no stranger to CelticFest, and we are excited at the opportunity to have him back! A child genius on the pipes, Tim has been touring and teaching the pipes for over 30 years. He is also now known as a master builder of the pipes -- better save up your pennies!

And just breaking news, Éamonn de Cógáin is coming to lead Saturday night Céilí Mór and sample the Mississippi 'craic'!

Éamonn de Cógáín brother of none other than the famous Máirtín from the Fuchsia Band is been flown in directly from County Cork to Call the biggest Céilí in the South! Máirtín bought his ticket and packed his bags and send him our way only days after Éamonn returned home from Bulgaria where he was performing all over the country and dancing at an their national international Folk Dance Festival.  You wouldn't think it but Éamonn is Máirtín's older brother and 5th out the 10 de Cógáin clann. This is his premiere Céilí this side of the big pond and he is fierce excited. "It's hard to believe there is so much interest so far away from home,' says Éamonn even after Máirtín telling him for years.

Be sure you make it to Saturday night's big event and see Éamonn in action. "I've been calling Céilís since I was a boy, sure what else would I do on such a night,' says he. If there is space on the ground and music to accompany him Éamonn says he will teach anyone who wants to learn. This will be first visit to Mississippi and can't wait to get to know all about it!

These two special additions will join our previously announced headliners, Jimmy Crowley and Randal Bays with Dáithí Sproule. More information about CelticFest's Headliners and Performers can be found on the CelticFest Mississippi website.

The New Schedule is Here!

Navin R. Johnson couldn't be more excited.... It's no simple things to schedule 40+ performers from 40+ different towns, states, and countries, and distill the whole shebang down to two papers consisting of over 155 separate events, but CelticFest Co-Director Don Penzien has done it again!

It's fresh from the oven and posted on the CelticFest Schedule page. It is posted in PDF format (two pages in one file) and the same information is alsoavailable in JPG format (two seperate files for stage and workshop). Tell your friends and get them while they're hot!

St. Brigid's Choral Group at Fenian's Tonight
901 E. Fortification, Jackson
8 - 11pm
Fenian's Irish Pub

St. Brigid’s is named for the fifth-century Irish saint who is credited with turning her bath water into beer. While we hope that you don’t expect quite the same degree of miracles out of a small vocal ensemble, we think you’d agree that this makes her an excellent role model for a women’s singing group! In the spirit of St. Brigid, our repertoire is inspired by and drawn from the traditional songs of Ireland and the British Isles, with a few modern favorites thrown in for good measure and with a couple that are just there to make you smile. Our members – Susan Wellman, Julia Smith, Allison Jenkins, Margaret Cupples, and Catherine Bishop – have a variety of musical experience, but we share with our patron saint a love of a great tune, a hot bath, and a well-poured pint.

St Brigid's will be making their CelticFest Premiere at this year's festival!

Download Your Own CelticFest Poster

Let them know that CelticFest is almost here!

If you'd like to share your love of the best weekend in Jackson with friends and coworkers, why not do it in full Technicolor(™)? The 2008 CelticFest poster is available on the "Press Materials" page for download in two convenient formats. Thanks to Paul Hamblin of DevilFish Designs for another fine piece ofpromotional art.

Incidentally, it's worth mentioning that the Whiskey Tasting poster paired with the2008 CelticFest poster really ties a room together. This poster is also available for download on the Press Materials page.

Beat the Pack - Get CelticFest Tickets Online!
Sept 5, 6, & 7

Adult $12
Senior $8
Youth (ages 5-18) $5
Child (ages 4 and under) $1

CelticFest '07 was our largest ever, and we suffered some 'growing pains' -- more specifically, folks who were trying to get in during peak hours waited a long time.

It's important to us that everyone have the best time they can have, listening, learning, participating, and appreciating. To help alleviate the congestion, the Ag Museum and CHS have arranged:

• More ticket sellers at the gate
• Advance online ticket sales
• Advance ticket sales at the Ag Museum's main office
  

If you are coming to CelticFest, we encourage you to buy your tickets online now. Brown Paper Tickets will mail them to you. The tickets, as always are FULL WEEKEND PASSES, and can amount to a 'fast pass' into the festival. Brown Paper Tickets will charge a small processing fee, and you will have peace of mind and air conditioning.

Alternatively, the main office of the Ag Museum has a limited number of Advance Sale adult weekend passes ($12) and youth's (ages 5-18) weekend passes ($5) while supplies last.

Visit the CelticFest website for festival details at www.CelticFestMS.org.
Visit Brown Paper Tickets for festival tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com

No Stop Left Un-Pulled - the 10th Annual
Irish Whiskey and Scotch Tasting
A Benefit Event for CelticFest Mississippi

Friday, September 5, 2008
7:30pm-9ish
The Ethnic Heritage Center at the Ag. Museum, Jackson MS 
$30 online/$40 at the door (space permitting)

Slainte!

Tickets are still available, but they are going fast!! Don't be that person suctioned to the window pane looking in....

Like the finest 'uisce beatha', this event gets better every year, and for 2008, the folks at Wine & Spirits are pulling out all the stops. The Tasting will be led by the Ambassador of the Classic Malts, Evan Cattanach, Master Distiller Emeritus, of Kingussie, Scotland. As always, there are gifts, a door prize, and items for your designated drivers.

If there was a year not to miss the Irish Whiskey and Scotch Tasting, this is the one. 120 lucky souls attended last year, and more are planned this year to accommodate this very special anniversary event!

Tickets are available online, and advance purchase is recommended. If you didn't know that there was much more to appreciating whiskey than just adding Coke, coffee, or ice, or even if you are a well-tempered connoisseur of the amber bead, you will learn volumes, and of course grow as a person, at the annual Irish Whiskey and Scotch Tasting: the best whiskey tasting in the South.

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Evan Cattanach began his career with single malt whisky in 1961 with the Scottish Malt Distillers - the production arm of Johnnie Walker. He spent the next 33 years managing the production of single malt whisky, working in all four of Scotland's whisky-producing regions at 15 different distilleries. During his career, Evan has worked at some of the most revered distilleries in Scotland including Oban, Lagavulin, Dalwhinnie, Cragganmore and Cardhu Distilleries among others.

Sponsored by Wine and Spirits in the Quarter and by Fenian's Pub.

For more information, call Wine & Spirits in the Quarter at 601.366.6644 or visit the CelticFest website.