I can tell you where I’ll be all weekend—at the 23rd Annual Midwinter Scottish-Irish Festival at Valley Forge. The lineup of bands is fabulous and includes local musicians such as Jamison, the John Byrne Band, RUNA, Timlin and Kane, Oliver McElhone, and Charlie Zahm, as well as far-away favorites like Searson, Brother, Albannach, the Screaming Orphans, Rathkeltair, the Brigadoons, the Sean Flemng Band, and The MacLeod Fiddlers.
It’s going to be cold outside this weekend. Come in, taste a little whiskey, learn to ceili dance, pick up a few words in Irish or Scottish Gaelic, and enjoy the music. Watch out for the swordplay. The Companions of the Cross and Live Steel will also be there, showing you how to fence. And if you see us, come up and say hello.
Continuing this week, the plays Misalliance by Shaw at Walnut Street Studio 5 and Long Live Little Knife at the Off Broad Street Theatre, along with the opera, Oscar, about Oscar Wilde, at the Kimmel.
Galway Guild will be rocking the Bristol AOH on Friday night and they’re the Irish music you’ll be hearing at Paddy Whacks on Welsh Road and the Boulevard on Saturday afternoon.
The Irish conversation group will be meeting again at Falvey Library, room 204, at Villanova, on Thursday. This is not a beginner’s group.
Then on Friday, the Delco Gaels’ Dance Like a Star fundraiser takes over the Springfield Country Club for an evening of music, dance performances, and comedy. See our story for more details. On Saturday, the Gaels’ 2015 Indoor League starts at Maple Zone in Boothwyn. There are about 150 children enrolled in this youth Gaelic sports program.
On Saturday, February 21, there will be a benefit to raise money for the Officer Daniel Boyle Scholarship Fund, which benefits families who want to send their children to Christian/Catholic schools but don’t have the tuition money. It takes place at Heroes Hall on Caroline Road in Northeast Philadelphia.