Celtic culture comes alive at the annual Samhain Celtic New Year Festival Saturday, October 19.
Samhain, pronounced “sow-in” (“ow” like in cow), is a Gaelic festival that marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year. It is traditionally recognized on November 1 and considered the Celtic New Year.
Salem nonprofit Céilí (said “kay-lee”) of the Valley Society celebrates the occasion with an immersive day of family-friendly experience, information and opportunity honoring the seven Celtic nations (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Galicia and Isle of Man), from live music and speakers, to workshops and educational, hands-on activities that are fun for the whole community.
The festival will open with a march through by Willamette Valley Pipes & Drums at 10:15 a.m. followed by a performance of the Sword Dance by Eric Chandler. Non-stop entertainment continues inside and outside of the event.
Blaz Danjerus
This year’s headlining band is Blaz Dañjerus (Breton for “dangerous taste”), an exciting new project bringing together Irish and Breton dance music featuring Preston Wilde, Channing Dodson, and Zac Léger.
Preston Wilde (fiddle, Flemish bagpipes, uilleann pipes, bombarde) began learning the uilleann pipes at age 17 with the help of the late Dingle piper Con Durham as well as the Pub Scouts, the local Irish music collective in Chico, CA. Now residing in the Portland area, he frequently plays at regional céilís, Sean-nós Northwest workshops and events, local sessions, and concerts. He has performed all over North America, Ireland, and the UK, with such groups as Ensemble Galilei, An Irish Christmas, Cake, Alasdair Fraser, Kevin Burke and many others.
Channing Dodson (bombarde, binioù-kozh, Turkish oud, uilleann pipes, & flute) started learning the Scottish bagpipes in his teens with Jay Salter in Santa Cruz, California. He studied piping with Scottish gold medalists James McColl and Allan MacDonald of Glenuig. Channing first discovered Breton music through the recordings of Canadian band Rare Air and the peerless Breton flute virtuoso Jean-Michel Veillon. He has been obsessively collecting, learning, and playing it on his own for more than 20 years and finally decided it was time to share this little-known gem of the Celtic music world with the rest of the local musical community.
Zac Léger (button accordion, guitar, bouzouki, vocals) is a multi-instrumentalist and singer based in Portland. A winner of several All-Ireland awards, he has appeared on more than two dozen albums and has toured, performed and recorded with the likes of The Chieftains, vocalist Lisa Lambe of Celtic Women, Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul, John Doyle and Liz Carroll, Irish accordionist John Whelan, Scottish fiddler Jamie Laval, Irish Jazz/rock fusion band The Brilliant Gypsies, and the stage productions Women of Ireland, An Irish Christmas, Emerald Beat, Celtic Crossroads, and Ireland: The Show (where he also served as musical director).
The band will play a concert at 11 a.m. and provide live music for the ceili dance which wraps up the festival from 4 to 5 p.m.
The Celtic Kitchen will be serving up soups from three Celtic Nations (Scottish, Welsh, & Irish) with soda bread and green salad for lunch beginning at 11 a.m. Ala Carte items, available 10 a.m. until the food is gone, include coffee, tea, other beverages, chips, and scones by Manna Bakery.
Samhain Celtic New Year Festival
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, October 19
Where: Spinning Room at Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill St. SE
Cost: $10 adults, $5 students and free for children younger than 12.
Information: orcelticfest@gmail.com or visit www.celticfestival.info
The Samhain Celtic New Year Festival is organized by the Céilí of the Valley Society, a Salem-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and perpetuating Celtic heritage and culture in the Willamette Valley primarily through social events that incorporate music and dance. An all-volunteer organization, the society teaches weekly classes and holds dances with live music on the second Friday of the month. For more information, visit www.ceiliofthevalley.org.