FIRST ACTS ANNOUNCED FOR Celtic Festival

The National Celtic Folk Festival has announced their first line-up for the  June long weekend festivities that will see over 16,000 people arrive to  Portarlington.

The festive extravaganza running on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend June 7-10 will showcase some of the world’s best national and international acts in concert, workshops, sessions and crossdisciplinary community art projects.

There’s also theatre and spoken word events, competitions, forums, singing sessions, dances, gatherings, pipe bands, and markets to enjoy.

Early bird tickets are available until April 1, with the first acts announced including Scotland’s Duncan Chisholm – one of the most accomplished and authentic interpreters of traditional Highland fiddle music.

Duncan was awarded Composer of the Year 2018 at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards and Album of the Year 2018 for his latest album Sandwood.

Other international acts include fellow Scottish act Inyal, The Lumber Jills (Canada), Tim Scanlan Trio (Japan), Maggie Carty and Mairtin Staunton, and Eileen O’Brien and Mary McNamara from Ireland.

On the national front Colin Lillie, Fiona Ross and Shane O’Mara, Caledonian Castaways, Bush Gothic, Sasta, Jimmy O’Hare, Out of Hand, The McKinnon Sisters and Bhan Tree join a slew of other talents.

The program offers a diverse range of art forms, along with the many interpretations of Celtic and Folk culture within this picturesque Australian setting; the festival market features stalls selling an array of goods and crafts profiling local designers, Celtic wares and a variety of local produce.

This year the festival welcomes the Australian Highland Cattle show; Highland cattle were imported into Australia by Scottish migrants in the middle of the Nineteenth Century.

This show is a great place to see the best of the breed, with cattle appraised by an international host judge.

With a reputation that grows each and every year, this is Australia’s largest and most diverse Celtic gathering.

For more information on the full line-up and tickets go to nationalcelticfestival.com.