Had you heard? The Pope is coming to Philly this week. Welcome to the City of Brotherly Love, Pope Francis! And the AOH Irish Fall Festival starts on Thursday. And Bethlehem’s Celtic Fest starts on Friday. So, if you were hoping for a nice, quiet Fall week, you are so out of luck.
Blackthorn will be rocking Norwood Community Day and Music Festival on Saturday, September. The day starts at 8 AM with the Ed Snyder 5K Run. There’s a craft fair, moon counces, rock climbing, pony and horse rides for the kids, a food court serving everything from mini-stromboli to crabcake sandwiches, a beer garden, and cow pie bingo—ewww—to round out the day. Blackthorn will be preceded by many other bands. The lads take the stage from 7 PM to 10 PM. BYO lawn chairs and sunscreen.
It’s been sold out for weeks, but we need to mention that the John Byrne Band is holding its CD release party at World Café Live on Saturday night. Their newest offering is “The Immigrant and the Orphan,” and features “Dirty, Used Up, Chewed Up, Screwed Up Love,” which is getting airplay on WXPN. Check out the video below.
On Wednesday, Father Ed Brady of St. Anne’s Catholic Church on Lehigh Street in Philadelphia will be concelebrating an “Irish Peoples Mass” at the church where he’s the pastor with various priests from around the region and visitors from the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference in the city for the World Meeting of Families. This is the organization meeting in Philadelphia that drew the attention of Pope Francis, who will be in the city to address them.
On Thursday, enjoy a private concert by young musicians Haley Richardson, Dylan Richardson, and Keegan Loesel in the privacy of your home thanks to Concert Window. You pay what you want, but what you contribute will help defray the costs of 13-year-old Haley’s trip to Ireland in October to compete in the Fiddler of Dooney competition. Haley, who lives in New Jersey, has won an All-Ireland for her fiddle playing. Go to the Concert Window link to have a look and listen starting at 8 PM.
Also on Thursday, the AOH Fall Irish Festival kicks off with a round of golf, followed by three days of nonstop music, vendors, parades, a pipe band competition, a 5K and Mass on Sunday. It’s billed as the largest Irish festival on the east coast, and the interest in this AOH fundraiser never seems to lag. Along with the musicians on the bill, including Cathy Maguire, Haley and Dylan Richardson with Keegan Loesel playing as the new trio, Meara Meara, Ballina, the Birmingham Six, the Broken Shillelaghs, and Galway Guild, most of Philly’s Irish musicians are booked into the pubs that line the route. If you hate Irish music, this is not the place to be.
On Friday through the weekend, find out if your haggis-eating skills are primo by entering the contest at Bethlehem’s annual Celtic Fest. You can also learn how to do the perfect pour of Guinness, watch big men throwing big objects (those are highland games) and thrill to border collies herding sheep.
There’s also a fantastic array of musical entertainment (I’ve heard most of them and can vouch for them) including Timlin and Kane, Seamus Kennedy, Killen Clark, Blackwater, Matt and Shannon Heaton, Emish, Celtic Spirit, the Mudmen, Tempest, Burning Bridget Cleary. Poor Man’s Gambit, Jamison, McPeake, Kilmaine Saints, Bastard Bearded Irishmen, the Gothard Sisters, Glengarry Bhoys, Archie Fisher, No Irish Need Apply, and many more. The Celtic Cultural Alliance doesn’t do anything by halves. I didn’t even mention the pipe bands, fiddle contest, Irish dancers, Highland dancers, crafts, vendors, and workshops. This is worth a trip. There’s almost too much to do and see.
