Members of rival Scottish clans played "my sword's bigger than yours" and showed just how tough men in skirts can be at the National Celtic Festival.
The Celtic gods smiled down upon the National Celtic Festival with three days and nights of clear skies and bright sunshine across the winter long-weekend of celebrations.
Around 14,000 visitors flocked to the usually quiet bayside town of Portarlington to warm the cockles with world-class music, dancing, storytelling, Gaelic language and plenty of great “craic”.
Exhausted but elated festival director Una McAlinden hailed this ninth annual National Celtic Festival on the Bellarine Peninsula a huge success and said the calibre of international acts this year had surpassed all expectations.
“Everybody was just blown away with the quality of the program,” said Ms McAlinden. “Not only were the international acts world-class; they were such nice people and great fun too.”
Ms McAlinden said this year’s headlining act, US Celtic-folk supergroup Solas, gave everything to their Portarlington audiences in spite of the jetlag they felt thanks to catching a flight from New York the day before the festival.
“These guys are the crème de la crème of Celtic music and they decided to make their Australian debut at Portarlington, flying in exclusively for our festival,” she said.
“They played to capacity crowds each day yet still had the energy to party every night! They had a ball and told me it was an experience they’ll never forget.”
Irish singer/songwriter Eleanor McEvoy added to her world-wide fan base by capturing the hearts of festival-goers with her incredible multi-instrumental talents and her unique take on the modern folk genre.
Fans were also treated to a special interview presentation called “In Conversation”, in which the affable McEvoy open up with great humour and personal anecdotes about her career and the effect her music has had on the lives of her fans.
Saturday saw fiddle players from around the world take to the stage to battle it out in the prestigious National Golden Fiddle Competition; while Sunday belonged to the passionate pipers and drummers gathered from across Australia.
The crowds gathered outside in the warm sunshine on Sunday were treated to the spectacle of a dozen young champion drummers performing a stunningly choreographed drum salute full of synchronised moves that were described as “Riverdance with drums”.
Other highlights included the Eternal Surge of the Sea concert that explored the Scottish Gaelic stories, poetry and music inspired by the sea; the introduction of the first National Celtic Festival “Trad Conference”; and the Scottish-flavoured festival Ceili family dance which featured Scottish musicians from around the world including award-winning young fiddler from the US Hanneke Cassel and Adelaide-based fiddler Catherine Fraser who has been named as the Face of the Festival for 2012.
Ms McAlinden said planning had already begun for next year’s event to mark the 10th anniversary of the National Celtic Festival in Portarlington.
Meanwhile she has been invited to France in August as a VIP guest of the world’s largest Celtic festival, Inter-Celtic in Lorient, Brittany – known as Festival Interceltique de Lorient to the locals.
“It’s fantastic that our festival is being recognised on this world stage,” she said. “While I’m there I’ll be meeting with several other international organisations which should open the doors to a few new elements for our festival next year. I can’t wait.”
Links
- National Celtic Festival website: www.nationalcelticfestival.com
Photo Gallery
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- Members of rival Scottish clans played “my sword’s bigger than yours” and showed just how tough men in skirts can be at the National Celtic Festival.
photos by by Ferne Millen
