The Garrett County Celtic Festival & Highland Games will return to Friendsville Town Park on Saturday, June 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., celebrating the Celtic heritage of Appalachia with a full day of music, dance, athletics, and cultural traditions designed for all ages.
Now marking its tenth year in Friendsville, featured performers include perennial festival favorites Seán Heely, Shanty Irish, Aurora Celtic, Clann Redmond, and Teelin School of Irish Dance, along with pipes and drums ensembles and Highland Games competitions.
Interactive workshops allow festival goers to get up close and personal with the highly awarded, world-class performers and presenters. Unique workshops include Welsh and Cornish dance, an introduction to the Irish language, and a history of Celts’ role in the Revolutionary War to recognize America’s 250th celebrations.
Aurora Celtic’s swirling rhythms and Clann Redmond’s family harmonies open the musical performances for the day, while Shanty Irish’s rousing pub songs keep the energy flowing into the afternoon. Scottish fiddle virtuoso Seán Heely will close the main stage joined by Beth Patterson on Irish bouzouki and punctuated by Agi Kovacs’s percussive dance in dynamic, transportive tunes that will whisk you from the Acadian bayou to the British Isles and back to the Appalachian hills.
The Rainbow’s End children’s area has its own array of activities like youth Highland games, an imaginative play, Celtic myths and storytelling, and extensive arts and crafts, including some hosted by the Friendsville branch of Ruth Enlow Library.
Attendees are encouraged to bring camp chairs and stay all day in the Celtic village, enjoying refreshments from local vendors and shop artisan wares.
The festival is supported in part by the Garrett County Arts Council, Mountaineer Log & Siding Company, Civic Club of Oakland, and others. It will be held rain or shine with both indoor and outdoor venues. The park offers free parking and ADA accessibility.
Admission is free for children 12 and under, $10 youth 13-18, and $20 for adults. Find tickets, schedules, and event information at GCCelticFestival.org.
Photo: Internationally renowned fiddler Seán Heely returns to the Garrett County Celtic Festival & Highland Games with percussive dancer Agi Kovacs and multi-instrumentalist Beth Patterson
