A front-page write-up about CelticFest, the annual Celtic Festival held in Vancouver during March. The article highlights noteworthy events to look out for.
Text by: Phoebe Yu
Edited by: Mike Lee and Kerry Hall
Published: March 8, 2011, The Source
March is Vancouver's unofficial "Celt Appreciation Month" as the city prepares to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a host of events that go beyond the usual trappings of parades and beer. The annual CelticFest will take place from March 16-20 and will feature over 50 attractions celebrating traditional and contemporary Celtic music, dance, film and much more.
The festival is meant to honour the seven Celtic nations of ireland, Wales, Scotland, Galicia, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. The event is organized by the CelticFest Vancouver Society, a non-profit association whose purpose is to bring people together to enjoy Celtic culture.
Festival executive producer Rita Albano said the celebration started in 2004 to promote Celtic culture at a slow point in Vancouver's social calendar. "Really, the goal was to bring the city alive during a time when there was not a lot going on," she said.
The Society has reached their attendance goal with the St. Patrick's Day parade attracting an estimated 200,000 to 400, 000 people a year. Although the parade draws the biggest crowds, other events include film screenings, Scotch whisky tasting and a number of other pre-festival events on March 11 and 15.
One of the festival's most popular draws is the Celtic Village and Street Market. Visitors will be able to purchase all manner of arts and crafts from vendors. On-site entertainment includes face painting, Irish storytelling and singing. This year's market also will feature swordplay demonstrations from Vancouver's Academie Duello, a "School of European swordplay and western martial arts."
Among the other attractions this year will be demonstrations of Gaelic football and hurling - two uniquely Irish sporting events - courtesy of the irish Sporting and Social Club. It is said that wherever the Irish have travelled, Gaelic games have followed. Pat Lowney, the club's president, believes this to be true. "Gaelic sports are a huge tradition in Ireland," he said. "They are very fast-paced and very exciting to watch."
Gaelic football, called Peil Ghaelach, shares a number of similarities with soccer but is played on a larger field and players are allowed to touch the ball with their hands. Hurling, Iománaíocht in Irish, is best described as a cross between hockey and lacrosse but with the added benefit of being able to carry the small ball, a sliotar, a short distance.
Hurling is often compared to hockey and some argue that hockey is its evolutionary cousin. Brendan Flynn, executive director of Ireland Canada Monument project, considers it Ireland's most important gift to Canada - the grandfather of ice hockey.
Many Canadians of Celtic origin, such as the Father of Confederation Thomas D'Arcy McGee, have made significant contributions to the country. The festival serves as a way to commemorate those who have helped shape the nation. Private initiatives like the monument project also seek to recognize Irish-Canadians and their historic roles in Canadian history by proposing a memorial to be placed in Thornton Park in Vancouver. Representatives from the monument project will be marching in the parade this year.
Although the majority of the participants in CelticFest are often of Irish and Scottish descent, Albano hopes to attract performers, artists and contributors from the remaining Celtic territories.
"Right now our organization is still growing and we don't have a big budget," she said. "But in the future, our goal is to bring in more performers from the other Celtic nations."
Albano said the festival is really a multicultural event. The goal is to highlight the diverse aspect of Vancouver and invite the city's many cultural groups to join in the festivities. This is evident in some fo the cross-cultural workshops and performances in the celebrations, such as the Afro-Celtic Dance Party.
"At CelticFest, everybody is an honourary Celt," Albano said.
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