We’re just a week away from the 24th annual Greater Philadelphia Mid-Winter Scottish and Irish Music Festival at the Valley Forge Events Center in King of Prussia. And as usual, organizer Bill Reid has come up with about a hundred ways to have a fabulous weekend of music, dance, food, drink, and other great Celtic stuff (sword fight, anyone?) just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Many local performers and bands, including The John Byrne Band, Jamison, The Hooligans, Oliver McElhone, Timlin & Kane, Charlie Zahm and Tad Marks, Gabriel Donohue and Seamus Kennedy (back by popular demand) will be on stage, along with long-time festival favorites Albannach, the Brigadoons, Searson, the Screaming Orphans, the MacLeod Fiddlers and the Washington Memorial Pipers and Drummers. While fan favorite Brother isn’t on the bill, the group’s Angus Richardson will be there. And new this year, the Canadian Celtic rock group, the Mudmen will be rousing the rabble, starting on Friday night, February 12.
This could be the perfect time for you to learn Irish, ceili dancing, and how to tell the difference between whiskies—there are also workshops daily over the three-day event. There’s always a great array of vendors whether you’re interested in jewelry, kilts, or haggis-flavored potato chips.
It all starts on Friday with a concert featuring the Hooligans, Albannach, and the Mudmen, three of the highest-energy groups ever. Check out photos from last year’s festival below.
This week, you can get your Irish on a few different ways. On Saturday afternoon, the Bogside Rogues will be mixing it up at Paddy Whacks on Roosevelt Boulevard at Welsh Road starting at 3 PM.
On Saturday night, Jamison will be rocking it for Archbiship Ryan High School in Northeast Philly, starting at 7 PM.
The Delco Gaels will be holding its indoor session for kids who want to play Gaelic football at the Maple Zone in Garnet Valley.
Dubliner on the Delaware in New Hope has two big events this weekend. First, former Blackthorn guitarist and thriving solo artist Seamus Kelleher will be there on Saturday night, and on Sunday afternoon, singers Donie Carroll, Gabriel Donohue, and Gerry Timlin, along with trad musicians Diarmuid MacSuibhne, Mary Malone and Den Vykopel, will be on stage to help raise money for Marianne MacDonald’s “Come West Along the Road” radio show on WTMR 800FM.
For you Jerseyites looking for a place to dance, head over to Xavier Hall in Westville for the Shanagolden Sunday Set with John Shields from The Irish Center, starting at 1:30 PM.
On Monday, Celtic Thunder’s tenor Emmet Cahill will be back on stage at The Irish Center for a concert to introduce some of the tunes from his upcoming CD. He was a hit last spring when he came to The Irish Center. Read about it here.
On Thursday, Slainte will be at Tir na nOg in Cherry Hill. It’s also the evening you can learn to ceili and step dance for free at Molly Maguire’s Pub in Phoenixville.
Also coming up on February 19, the fifth annual “Dance Like a Star” fundraiser for the Delco Gaels. If you like Dancing With the Stars, you’ll love this amateur version which is always a sellout (that’s 700 tickets, folks!) at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Delco. I never miss it. Great music, mostly great dancing, lots of laughs—and you’re doing a good one for a program that teaches kids Gaelic sports, thus keeping the culture alive in the Delaware Valley. Go to the Delco Gaels website to get tickets.
Keep March 13 open on your calendar. That’s the date for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The theme this year honors the 1916 Easter Rising, the failed rebellion that ultimately led to Ireland’s establishment as a free Republic. Paul Doris, a Tyrone native who has been active for years in Irish Northern Aid, is this year’s Grand Marshal.
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