The annual Boston Celtic Music Fest (BCMFest), now in its seventh year, returns to its roots January 8 and 9 with a “back-to-basics” focus on dyed-in-the-wool core traditions of Celtic music and those who help keep the Boston area’s rich heritage of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other Celtic music and dance traditions alive. Last year’s festival focused on the “fringe” of Celtic music – music with Celtic connections, but not necessarily Celtic in its own right.

The grassroots, musician-run, multi-generational winter music festival will feature a mix of established artists and new and emerging acts residing in the Boston area or active in its Celtic music community. BCMFest kicks off Jan. 8 with a Friday night concert at Harvard Square’s famed Club Passim and a Celtic dance party, the Boston Urban Celidh, at Springstep in nearby Medford, Massachusetts. The festival continues on Saturday, Jan. 9, with performances on four stages at Club Passim and the nearby First Parish Church of Cambridge, which also hosts the finale concert that evening. Set for 8 p.m., that concert will feature the Makem and Spain Brothers, Kimberley Fraser, and Barbara McOwen with Anne Hooper.

Other artists slated to perform during BCMFest include Gordon AuCoin and Lloyd Carr, Bento Boxty, Boston Highlands Ceili Band, Kate Chadbourne, Flynn Cohen and John McGann, The Gobshites, Catherine Joyce, Tina Lech and Ted Davis, Catherine Joyce and Tess Ruderman, Colm O’Brien, David O’Docherty, Michael O’Leary, Cedar Stanistreet and Max Newman, Parcel of Rogues (Calum Pasqua, Dan Houghton, Susie Petrov), Travel (Laura Cortese, Nic Gareiss, Anna Lindblad), Tri, Tullochgorum, and the trio of Laurel Martin, Kieran Jordan and David Surette, and more. A family-oriented production entitled “The Fiddler’s Wish” and a special ensemble recreation of the classic Dudley Street Boston Irish Dance Hall Era of the 1930s-1950s also are on tap.

“During its first six years, BCMFest has reached out to the area’s diverse Celtic music community through the festival as well as events during the year, such as the monthly Celtic Music Monday series at Club Passim and our annual music cruise in Gloucester,” says Shannon Heaton, who co-founded BCMFest with Laura Cortese. “And every year we’ve seen more and more musicians, singers and dancers come up with some great ideas and collaborations that really speak to the BCMFest mission,” continues Heaton, a talented artist in her own right, along with her husband Matt. “What’s especially encouraging… is that when we issued the call for performers to apply we made a point of stating the ‘core traditions’ theme, and it clearly generated a response.”

Recognizing that traditional music and dance is not merely something to quietly watch and listen to, festival organizers also have arranged a number of participatory events.
In addition to the Boston Urban Celidh, which festival organizers describe as “contra dance meets mosh pit,” participatory events at BCMFest will include an “All Chorus Songs, All the Time” sing-along, as well as open Irish and Scottish tune and singing sessions on Saturday.

More information and updates on the festival are available online at www.bcmfest.com. For tickets, which can be ordered through Club Passim, log-on to www.bcmfest.com/tickets.html.