An Irish Christmas in Mississippi

Yes, Virginia, there ARE other ways to celebrate the end of the year besides standing in long lines at big-box stores, or sitting in traffic... for centuries now, the merry folks of The Emerald Isle have rung out the auld with story and song, never better preserved or presented than by this highly-respected group and their collaborator, the storyteller Máirtín de Cógáin.

With fiddle, guitar, drum, whistles, and voice, Legacy recalls generations of Irish holiday tradition in a manner entirely befitting this year and next. It's a special program they've worked up especially for the season--- start now to make your Merry Christmas last that much longer! Learn more about An Irish Christmas'on Legacy's website. 

An Irish Christmas will appear in Jackson and Hattiesburg this season:

CelticFest Mississippi #20 in the bag

September 9, 10, & 11
Ag Museum, Jackson MS

Mick Heffernan of the Fuchsia Band conducts the crowd.

A big 'thank you' to all the volunteers, sponsors, and musicians who made our 20th Anniversary a spectacular event to remember. Thanks also to all who came to support the festival and share our weekend of culture, music, dance, and craic.

Preparations for 2012 are already underway, so watch this space!

CelticFest began as a way to introduce Mississippians to a genre of folk music and dance that we thought was pretty cool, but that also happens to be quite relevant to Mississippi's history.

What began as a humble labor of love has become a big labor of love, staffed 100% by volunteer workers and with an army of volunteer performers.

The secret is well out, with CelticFest garnering a national reputation amongst musicians and Celtic music fans: Mississippi has a gem of a traditional Celtic music festival (not to mention the largest céilí in the South, and in 2010 set the record for the largest Brush Dance in North America.)

The Brush Dance Record

The record was set in Jackson at CelticFest Mississippi 2010: 167 people performing the Brush Dance! If you don't believe it, watch the video below! (It doesn't show the dancers on the very fringe.)

Máirtín de Cógáin had it in his mind to set a world record --even a universe record-- in Jackson MS Saturday night during the Céilí Mór. He got the idea a week before the festival in 2009, so the organizers said, "Nah!" So he bided his time and waited until 3 weeks before the 2010 festival (hey, it's not last minute). The Jackson Irish Dancers got on board with the project, and scoured the city Jackson for 100 identical new wooden brooms. These brooms were 'personalized' and sold at CelticFest Mississippi for a paltry 8 bucks to cover the cost of broom, sticker, and Sharpie.

The Brush Dance (Rince an Scuaibe, or Broom Dance) is a dance associated with the south of Ireland, performed with an ordinary broom. There's foot battering, hopping over the broom, and passing it under ones' legs.

Corks for CelticFest

Say 'I Love You' with cork.

Here's a chance to help out the hard- working volunteers at CelticFest MS.

A special key fob has been handmade and is offered up for sale for the low price of $5.00 (tax included).  And here's the good part for the volunteers: all proceeds from the sale of these key fobs will go toward purchasing fans to put in the CHS booth and beverage tent at CelticFest MS. A 24" fan suitable for this task sells for about $100 at Home Depot.   

Each key ring has a hand-tied macramé knots on each end.  THEN, in between those knots you will find one slightly used wine cork (no wine was abused in the making of these key fobs).  Various corks from various vintages of various wines have been collected and turned into these works of art.

"I recently lost my keys for a week, and they turned up in the front yard," admitted a new CelticFest supporter. "I thought to myself, 'If I had bought one of those special, brightly-colored CelticFest cork-fobs, I would have spotted it in two seconds. I suppose a GPS bug on them would have worked better, but who wants to plug their keys in at night?"

Find out how to claim your cork fob here.

CelticFest a Top 20 Event

It's official -- the word has gotten out about CelticFest being a great event. The all-volunteer run festival was selected as one of the Top 20 Events in the South for a second time.

The Mostly Monthly Céilí Series

FREE! 
One Sunday a month (mostly), 2-5pm
Fenian's Irish Pub, 901 E Fortification

Set Dance at Fenian's, Photo by Josh Hailey

What is this céilí thing, anyway? Céilí (pronounced "KAY-lee") means "gathering", especially with music and dancing – but our definition is that it's good old-fashioned fun. The Mostly Monthly Ceili offers opportunities to learn Irish set and céilí dancing in an informal, relaxed setting. Sometimes our friendly local musicians join in to play live music or sing a song or three, and other times we get along with recorded music. Either way, we've never known a céilí not to be a great time!

All are welcome, regardless of age (young or young-at-heart) or experience level -- we'll walk through the dances before doing them. So bring the kids, grandma, your dancing shoes, your fiddle or whistle. Fenian's is a pub, but these are family-friendly and non-smoking events; and best of all, they're FREE (donations welcome). Fenian's kitchen and bar are open for business, so there's music, food, drink, and dancing -- all the important things in life!

The Mostly Monthly Céilí Series takes place (usually) one Sunday afternoon a month from 2-5pm. Check the CHS calendar for when the next Mostly Monthly is due.

CelticFest is on Facebook and Twitter!

CelticFest Mississippi receives grant funding from these institutions and agencies:

Benefit Events for CelticFest Mississippi

Feeling Lost?
You can read the F.A.Q., or try searching the CelticFest site here.

Cad 'ta tharla?
What's Happening?

Afraid you might be left out? There's always the CHS email list, which announces Celtic event reminders periodically. A new feature of the CelticFest website is a Google Calendar specifically for CHS events. Check the calendar here, or add it to your own Google Calendar!

Irish Word of the Day
Focal an Lae