Local, national and international touring artists whose performances are slated to stream @ https://facebook.com/michiganirish over the extended weekend include (in alphabetical order) The Alt, An Dro, Blackthorn, Ruth and Max Bloomquist, Bohola, Daimh, Doolin’, Ian Gould, Shane Hennessey, Seamus Kennedy, The Kreelers, One for the Foxes, Peat in the Creel, RUNA, Scythian, Sharon Shannon, Trout Steak Revival, and Uneven Ground. Singer-Songwriter Ashley Davis will host a songwriters circle featuring Dave Curley, Doolin’, Colin Farrell, and Shane Hennessey, while Shannon Lambert-Ryan, RUNA’s lead vocalist, will host a family-friendly presentation on “Baking with Babies.”

The schedule for the virtual festival appears below. Videos may also be posted on the festival’s Facebook page for replay later if you miss or want to see any of the acts again.

Thursday
5-7 pm Sounds Like Ireland Radio Program
8 pm Runa
9 pm Seamus Kennedy
10 pm An Dro

Friday
6 – 9 am Michael Patrick Shiels The Big Show radio show broadcast live from downtown Muskegon
5 pm Ruth and Max Bloomquist
6 pm Ian Gould
6:30 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashley Davis (featuring Colin Farrell and Dave Curley)
7 pm Dave Curley
7:50 pm Five Farms
8 pm Best of Scythian on Dan’s Wedding Day!
9 pm Shane Hennessy
10 pm The Kreellers

Saturday
12 pm Conklin Ceili Band
1 pm Peat in the Creel
1:30 pm Cathy Jo Smith Storyteller – Seanín the Piper
2 pm Kennedy’s Kitchen
2:30 Bob Harke with Kennedy’s Kitchen
3 pm Baking with Babies
4 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashley Davis (featuring Doolan’)
5 pm the Alt
5:30 pm Cathy Jo Smith – Questions about the Irish Wake
6 pm Friel Sisters
7 pm One for the Foxes
8 pm Daimh
9 pm Doolin’
10 pm CrossBow

Sunday
11 am Uneven Ground
11:30 am Deb O’Carroll’s Irish Magic Show
12 pm Runa featuring Eamonn and Cormac de Barra
1 pm Songwriters Circle with Ashely Davis (featuring Shane Hennessy)
2 pm Trout Steak Revival
3 pm Bohola
4 pm Best of Sharon Shannon
5 pm Blackthorn

American, Canadian, Irish and Scottish artists will be featured in what Cheryl Prashker, the festival’s artistic director and general manager; hopes will be “a magical online experience.” Nearly eight hours of pre-recorded music made especially for the festival will be viewable via the festival’s website (CelticFestival.ca), as well as its Facebook page (https://facebook.com/goderichceltic) and YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/channel/UCHRa3SZ8Y1wn88xYtNvR4Lg/featured?view_as=subscriber). FolkMusicNotebook.com, a 24/7 online music channel, will also stream the festival on its website.

From its humble beginnings as one-time memorial concert in 1993, the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival is now the oldest pan-Celtic festival in North America. In addition to a three-day outdoor festival showcasing some of the world’s best Celtic musicians, dancers and artists, it has grown/evolved to include a weeklong Celtic College and a Celtic Kids Camp, as well as a series of rural outreach mini-concerts,

The festival –- whose physical location is surrounded by the Irish and Scottish heritage reflected in the nearby communities of Belfast, Dublin, Kincardine, Lucknow and Seaforth — was founded on the spirit of community and connecting people with Celtic roots and exploring new Celtic expressions. It generally features more than 60 hours of live musical performances by dozens of artists and acts on five stages, ranging from small intimate ones to a high-powered main stage.

Postponing the 28th edition of the Goodrich Celtic Roots Festival to August 2-8, 2021
“was a really emotionally hard decision to make,” Prashker acknowledged, ”but we’re going all out with this virtual one.” Prashker -– who is also part of the Celtic roots group RUNA and a ‘percussionist to the folkies’ — noted that when she assumed her position with the festival two years ago it was her “secret hope to put the beautiful small town of Goderich on the world map … and now it will be on the world stage virtually.”

Here’s a link to view a short commercial for the festival:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fcUWQrzE0

The virtual Goderich Celtic Roots Festival 27.5 will feature pre-recorded performances by Ariko (Canada), Bourque Emissaires (Canada), Cherish The Ladies (U.S.), Shane Cook (Canada)), Joe Crookston (U.S.), The deBarra Brothers (U.S. & Ireland), Flack (Canada), Eve Goldberg (Canada), Joe Jencks (U.S.), Kruger Brothers (U.S. & Ireland), Emory Lester (Canada), Malinky (Scotland), North Atlantic Drift (Canada), Brian O’Headhra & Fiona MacKenzie (Scotland), One for the Foxes (Ireland & U.S.), Reynolds, Robinson & Lodge (Canada), and RUNA (U.S. & Canada).

“We returned to the festival the following year and, by that time, I had absolutely fallen in love with the town and the people, not to mention the beach at Lake Huron,” said Prashker. Noting that “There is an energy here that many say is what keeps them coming back time and time again,” she continued, “Each year after that, even if RUNA was not booked at the festival, I would come back anyway and teach at the Celtic College.” That led to her spending more and more time in Goderich — visiting and eventually moving there and assuming her current dream job. “It reads like a fairy tale (at least to me it does.), and I am so honored to be here,” she added, expressing hope that online festival viewers will get a small glimpse of the spirit and beauty of Goderich that drew her there.

The annual Celtic Roots Festival is run under the auspices of the Goodrich Celtic Folk Society — a charitable nonprofit organization that produces events designed to foster awareness, participation, and education in the world of traditional Celtic culture. Although admission to the virtual festival is free, there will be a virtual tip jar (celticfestival.ca/donate) and all contributions will go to the participating artists.