If you count the Lehigh Valley as part of Philly (we do), you have plenty of ways of being Irish this week. It’s Musikfest time and there are Celtic groups, from Eileen Ivers to Scythian to Seamus Kennedy, Terry Kane and John Beatty, and Tempest all sharing the platzes (that’s what they call the stages in Bethlehem—it’s a Moravian thing) with the likes of Avril Lavigne, the Stone Temple Pilots, Kool and the Gang, Jethro Tull, the Dixie Hummingbirds, Roseann Cash, and Earth, Wind, and Fire (for you young ‘uns, that last one is one group, not three).
You can also see the McDade Irish Dancers and the O’Grady Quinlan steppers from the Lehigh Valley while enjoying a local delicacy, like Moravian cake or shoofly pie.
We have all the Celtic listings on our calendar. Many of the concerts are free. Fortunately, they’ve been putting this amazing festival on for the last 25 years so there’s great information on the Musikfest website on where to park and about shuttlebuses (they call them shuttleplatz, in case you don’t speak German) and Musikfest trolleys. You may not even have to dirty the bottom of your shoes with that pesky walking around.
Too early to think about Christmas? You might want to. The Waterford Wedgwod Company Store at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Limerick is holding its first in-store warehouse sale this weekend, starting August 1, with savings up to 75%. Waterford crystal on sale? Made us want to check on the temperature in hell. We thought it might have frozen over. If you can wait till Sunday, the Chadds Ford Winery is holding a tasting in the store, and you can cleanse your palate with goodies from Harry and David. Store manager Andrea Vandervort tells us this sale is likely to be a one-time event.
Also over the weekend, the Irish Center is broadcasting GAA sports from Ireland live. On Saturday at 9 AM, you can watch the Down-Wexford match, followed by Tyrone-Mayo at 11. Sunday, watch Fermanagh go up against Kildare at 9 AM, with Monaghan vs. Kerry coming on at 11 AM. Cost is $20. On Sunday, that will also include a full Irish breakfast.
Want to see live live Gaelic sports? The Philly Shamrocks and the Allentown Hibernians are scheduled for another hurling match at 2:30 PM Sunday at Cardinal Dougherty High School. This is the game that requires sunscreen. BYO Irish food.
The crowd-pleasing Paddy’s Well will play a free concert Saturday, August 2, at Norristown Farm Park in Norristown. The last we saw this group, headed by Paul Moore, they were mesmerizing the throngs at the Penns Landing Irish-American Festival. The festivities begin at 6 PM.
Also on Saturday, it’s your last chance to hear fabulous Irish traditional musicians Angelina Carberry and Martin Quinn while they’re here on tour. The venue: the Hunting Shack at Tuckerton Seaport in Tuckerton, NJ. Read about our chance encounter with Carberry and Quinn at a local session this week.
On Wednesday, August 6, get ready for an amazing experience. The Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums will be playing at the Chapel in Valley Forge National Park. If you’ve ever been there, you know It’s a magical place, with views of green, rolling hills all around. When the bells of the carillon ring out, you can feel transported. At 7:30 PM, carillonneur Doug Gefvert will play the Chapel’s bell with the tunes of the British Isles.? After the Carillon concert the members of the AOH Notre Dame Division’s Irish Thunder will march out to the front of the Chapel and play tunes from the Emerald Isle.? The concert is free. Come early—this one draws a huge crowd every year. Bring chairs, blankets, and bug spray.
If you miss Paddy’s Well on Saturday, you get a second chance to hear them on Thursday night at Wentz Run Park in Whitpain. We love free summer concerts! See chairs, blankets, bug spray advice above.
And on Friday, go to the races. Sort of. The Philadelphia Donegal Football Club (Four Provinces) is sponsoring a benefit night at the races at Cawley’s Pub in Upper Darby. Our Donegal team is competing this year against New York teams at Gaelic Park in the Bronx—and making a fine showing, so we hear. This is your chance to support them and meet some of the new players.
Some amazing Irish events are on the horizon (we know, we just entered them on the calendar), including a Philly visit by the High Kings, the annual Philadelphia Ceili Group Traditional Music Festival (with a concert by one of our favorites, Tony DeMarco) , the AOH Irish Festival in North Wildwood, Bethlehem’s annual Celtic Fest, a “Save Irish Radio” benefit concert, and many great Irish acts of every genre coming to the World Café, Sellersville, and other venues.
Wait, what was that? Oh. The calendar wants me to shut up now and send you over there to see for yourself. You know, since it’s been named the best Irish event calendar in the universe by the readers of irishphiladelphia.com and JD Powers and Associates (who are they, anyway?), it’s become a little touchy. Humor it, will you?
Did you know that you can enter your own event on our calendar? Well, you can! Go to the full calendar. Click on “Notify us about your Irish events” and follow the instructions on the next screen. We do reserve the right to edit calendar items. For example, we don’t want you to use it as your own personal calendar. Don’t list the “Kelly Family Dinner” if it’s just you, the mister, and the kids, unless you really want a couple of hundred people named Kelly showing up for barbecued ribs and colcannon. And try to keep it Celtic, which means you folks whose roots are in Scotland, Brittany, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Wales, the Iberian peninsula and Celtic Canada can enter your events too!
