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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2011-08-17, Page 5Sar e• Wednesday, Augast fiat $1 h Annual Celtic Roots Festiva Annual Celtic bash usually draws a couple thousand visitors in August Min the music to the and ancient arts,. ulture is strong in ingthewrapofthe c Roots Festival in tival mom and pop and Warren Robing the August 5 to 7 ay have been the ever. Wrn'and dui."�. estival mom and pop Eleanor and n Robinson, last eek. fol owing the al dizzying celtic odyssey. warm and wonder - ren said last week g the annual dizzy - odyssey. s numbers go, 2011 n't be one for the •oks,but the lure of e has never failed. mbers are tallied, nsons say the head - ay. not have topped years but was con - The annual Celtic ally draws a couple visitors in August, year was no excep- at was exceptional, say, was the talent. the festival shook p and brought in a ng" lineup of per - something Warren a hit. e responded well to d many said they • freshness." culture is a point of oughout the prov= evident from the of fesdvais and cel- s hosted annually. Two of the largest --- the Glengarry Highland Games, which draws about 500,000 people to Maxvlile, Ont., and the Scottish Festival and Highland Games, which attracts about 200,000 peo- ple to Fergus, Ont. - were joined this year by the inau- gural Celtic celebration in Peterbourough, which man- aged to attract an Impressive crowd as well. But numbers aren't everything, notes the Robinsons. While the Celtic Roots Festival remains a smaller scale in comparison, the longstanding event con- sistently attracts visitors worldwide who say the inti- mate atmosphere and we/l- olled festival machine make Goderich's one of the top in North America. "'this year everybody- vis- itors, performers everyone said they were blown away," Warren said August 11. "In fact, one visitor said to us we should come down and show the folks at the Philadelphia Folk Festival how to run an event" "The entertainment was awesome, the closing fiddles were stupendous, and we've still got a handful of visitors who come every year that tel us [the Celtic Festival] is the best weekend of their year. That's about the highest compliment you can get," Warren said. "An the friendliness of t h e town was 10 out of 10" Elea- nor added. As number 19 was tucked away nicely last week, there was a rumble of excitement among festival goers and organizers alike arising at the thought of what's in store for 2012, when the Celtic Festi- val celebrates it's 20th season. For their part, the Robin- sons are keeping mum on the details, but did let.sli P that there are three "particu- larly exciting" projects already y► in the works. 'We've got something kind of spectacular coming up for number 20, Warren said. "We can't say much yet because one requires per- mission from the Town of Goderich." If you missed your chance to grab some official Celtic Festival swag over the festi- val weekend, head to www. celticfestival.ca where you can now shop online. wraps up in The Square Dominique Milburn Goderich Signal -Star The Celtic Roots Festival debuted a weeklong line up of music and dancing on The Square in 2011 that showcased the talent of a number of festival performers, college teachers, and local musicians. On Thursday, August 4, the festival teamed up with the Goderich BIA's Thursday concert series, when French fiddlers Pierre Schryer and Martine Billette were joined by Goderich's John Lodge.