For more than a quarter of a century, lovers of Celtic music, crafts and culture have gathered each August at a park along the shores of Lake Huron in Goderich, Ontario for the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival. Like a number of other music festivals forced to cancel or postpone over the past 17 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival’s organizers have arranged an online festival in its place. Featuring pre-recorded musical performances and live hosts, the 2021 Celtic Roots Virtual Festival will stream on Friday, August 6 from 7-11 p.m. EDT and on Saturday, August 7, from 1-5 p.m. EDT.
As was the case last August, American, Canadian, Irish and Scottish artists will be featured in what Cheryl Prashker, the festival’s artistic director and general manager envisions will be “a magical online experience.” There will be interviews and music from The Bookends, Dave Curley, The Ennis Sisters,Daoirí Farrell, Fàrsan, Emily Flack, The Gilberts, Jane & Kyle, Seán Keane, Mélissandre Tremblay-Bourassa & Alexis Chartrand, Dave Woods, and Ryan Young.
An Emerging Artist Showcase with Acts from Around the World to Debut
For the first time, the festival also will include an emerging artist showcase named for festival founders Eleanor and Warren Robinson and featuring 10 artists/acts from around the world.
Participating in the inaugural Robinson Emerging Artist Showcase are 3 on the Bund (Ireland), Clíodhna Ní Aodáin (Ireland/Switzerland), Daridel (Italy), Harmundi (Brazil), Isla Ratcliff (Scotland), Kinnfolk (USA), Michael Darcy & The Atlantic Tramps (Canada), Miguel Girão (Portugal), Mosquera Celtic Band (Spain), and O’Jizo (Japan). The online audience will help select two who will be invited back to play the festival’s main stage in 2022 and will be mentored monthly throughout the year leading up to it. They will also be invited to participate in virtual artist development workshops and the weeklong Celtic College preceding next year’s festival as they seek to advance their musical careers.
“It has been a dream of mine to bring such a showcase to Goderich since this festival and the college have always been about showcasing young talent,” Prashker told AcousticMusicScene.com. She cited the long-running Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in upstate New York as the inspiration behind it and expressed thanks to Michael Patrick Farrell from Toronto-based Dolmen Entertainment Group “who had a great deal to do with helping put this together.”
In all, nearly eight hours of pre-recorded music made especially for the festival will be viewable via the festival’s website (CelticFestival.ca), as well as its Facebook page (https://facebook.com/goderichceltic).
From its humble beginnings as one-time memorial concert in 1993, the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival is now the oldest pan-Celtic festival in North America. In addition to a three-day outdoor festival showcasing some of the world’s best Celtic musicians, dancers and artists, it has grown/evolved to include a weeklong Celtic College and a Celtic Kids Camp, as well as a series of rural outreach mini-concerts.
A Series of ‘Conversations with ..”-Style Online workshops Precede the Virtual Festival
“During the week prior to the virtual festival, which would have been our Celtic College week, we are offering six different 90-minute workshops, which are more like ‘Conversations with …’,” said Prashker. These ticketed events will take place via Zoom – Monday, Aug. 2 – Thursday, Aug. 5 — and all proceeds will go directly to the artists leading them. With the exception of a knot-work drawing workshop led by David Rankine — which will follow a more hands-on, step-by-step instructional format — instructors will generally spend the first 50 minutes or so sharing music and information about their areas of expertise, while engaging in Q & A and discussion with workshop participants for the last 40 minutes or so.
Eileen McGann is a virtual workshop instructor.
The Goderich Celtic Roots Festival –- whose physical location is surrounded by the Irish and Scottish heritage reflected in the nearby communities of Belfast, Dublin, Kincardine, Lucknow and Seaforth — was founded on the spirit of community and connecting people with Celtic roots and exploring new Celtic expressions. It generally features more than 60 hours of live musical performances by dozens of artists and acts on five stages, ranging from small intimate ones to a high-powered main stage.
Prashker -– who is also part of the Celtic roots group RUNA and a ‘percussionist to the folkies’ — noted that when she assumed her position with the festival three years ago it was her “secret hope to put the beautiful small town of Goderich on the world map … and now it will again be on the world stage virtually.” As in 2020, she noted that “Although the musicians will have pre-recorded music especially for us, the hosts, will be live all weekend long — and each musician will be Zooming in before their slot happens so we can all interact with the audiences watching.” Prashker, who first taught at the Celtic College and played the festival with RUNA in 2011, expressed hope that the virtual festival experience will give viewers a small glimpse of the spirit and beauty of Goderich that drew her there.
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