Celtic Festival Livens Up New London, Connecticut

For those with Irish roots or just the luck of the Irish, the New London Celts & Currachs festival on Saturday, August 23, promises to entertain. New London, Connecticut, hosts the third annual festival celebrating Celtic traditions with a noontime parade, music and dance, food, races, hands-on activities, and shopping.

The festival runs place from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. in downtown New London's Waterfront Park and is both free and family-friendly.

Currach Races

A festival highlight will be the currach races, which begin at 11 a.m. off of City Pier. A currach is a wooden framed boat that has stretched canvas or leather over the bottom. Historically it was covered by animal skins and used for both fishing and racing. Currachs are native to Scotland and Ireland, and the shape of the boat varies by region.

Each currach holds five people paddling, and past years have included rowing demonstrations in addition to the race.

Music & Dance

The festival offers a variety of Irish and Scottish music, whatever your fancy may be. Music and dance performances will be on-going throughout the day on three different stages: City Pier, Custom House, and Cultural Tent.

Music performances include Celtic Melody, Trouz Braz, Dan Ringrose, Danny O'Flaherty, Ed Miller, and Jodee James. Dancers from the Mystic Scottish Country Dancers and Spirited Soles Irish Dance Academy will perform traditional Celtic dances. Following is a description of each performance genre.

Celtic Melody plays lively jigs, reels, and dance music and songs of Ireland that listeners traditionally expect.

Dan Ringrose sings ballads, lighthearted and drinking songs, and sea shanties. He plays both guitar and bodhran, which is an Irish frame drum.

Danny O'Flaherty is a balladeer and incorporates a six and twelve string guitar, button accordion, tin whistle, and harmonica into his Gaelic music.

Trouz Bras (pronounced True Brazz) combines bagpipes, fiddle and percussion into its performances. The six-person band play fast and festive music.

Scottish singer Ed Miller performs songs and tales of Scotland.

Jodee James sings Welsh folk songs, and accompanies her voice with the fiddle and percussion.

Mystic Scottish Country Dancers perform traditional social dancing in full attire. The dancers from Spirited Soles Irish Dance Academy are youth at a variety of skill levels.

Food & Activities

Vendors will peddle Scottish and Irish food, including fish and chips, ginger beer, crabcakes, kettle corn, and other treats. Activities and workshops include fiddle making and Irish and Breton language instruction. Vendors will be selling Celtic art, jewelry, and music. Additionally, New London's many businesses are open with various offerings.

See the New London Main Street website for performance times and additional festival information, as well as for directions, parking, and city information.