Experience Our Festival!
Since 1997, the Celtic Colours International Festival has featured hundreds of musicians from all over the Celtic world and attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Cape Breton Island. For nine days in October, Cape Breton Island is home to a unique celebration of music and culture as the Celtic Colours International Festival presents dozens of concerts all over the island, an extensive line-up of community events, and a nightly Festival Club. Over the years, artists have traveled from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, Brittany, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, and Cuba as well as from across the United States and Canada to join the finest of Cape Breton's musicians, singers, dancers, storytellers and tradition-bearers for the annual Fall celebration.
Celtic Colours has grown over the years to become one of Canada’s premiere musical events, and a cultural highlight of Nova Scotia’s tourism season, collecting accolades from regional music awards to national and international tourism awards. The festival has also been successful in extending Cape Breton Island’s tourism season well into the Autumn, and introducing the musical culture of the Island to visitors from more than two dozen countries.
Cape Breton Island has long been known for its traditional music and culture. Although much of this traditional music is based on and descended from Scottish and Irish songs, tunes and tradition, in Cape Breton the enduring tradition is simply of playing music. The Island is home to a unique combination of music and culture, inspired by 19th Century settlers from Scotland and Ireland, and influenced by the Aboriginal Mi’kmaq people, the island’s physical geography, and the waves of immigrants who populated its communities during industrialization.
One of the many things that sets Celtic Colours apart from the vast majority of festivals taking place around the globe is that it isn't limited to just one location. Communities around Cape Breton Island host concerts and workshops at a time when the fall leaves are at their most brilliant and traveling around the island offers one breathtaking view after another. These communities are the places where the culture has been nurtured for over 200 years providing context for the roots of the music and celebrating each community's contribution to our living Celtic culture.
In many of these communities, the local fire hall, parish hall or community centre has hosted musical events for generations, in some cases, literally moving the fire trucks out of the hall to accommodate a dance. Venues for Celtic Colours vary from an 18th Century reconstructed French Chapel to brand new state of the art performance facilities to community halls, but all venues share in common the prominent place each holds in the community it serves. The Celtic culture of music, dance and story-telling lives on in these communities and provides foundation for the celebration of living culture that is the Celtic Colours International Festival.
The festival is held at the height of the island's spectacular fall colours, allowing visitors to enjoy breathtaking scenery as they travel to their next event. Traveling to an event may take a visitor around the pristine Bras d'Or Lakes, Canada's largest saltwater lake, or around the Cabot Trail, often called North America's most scenic drive. Wherever you go in Cape Breton at this time of year, you are bound to find amazing scenery around every turn.
Tradition continues because those who maintain a way of life or culture of doing things passes that on to the next generation. In Cape Breton, it is well known that without those who came before, the tradition would be lost. With this in mind, Celtic Colours pays tribute to those culture-bearers every year in concert.
With Celtic Colours International Festival's ambitious schedule (as many as eight concerts each day), it is simply impossible to see and hear everything. The organizers of the Festival realize this and take special care in the programming of each show so that it is possible to get a taste of all that the Festival has to offer on any given day. Whether it's Gaelic singing you are most interested in, or Cape Breton fiddling, or local dance traditions, or an afternoon of world-class bagpiping, Celtic Colours festival-goers can tailor their musical experience to suit their tastes. And if you want more than a taste, want to immerse yourself in the culture and learn by participating, or get involved at a deeper level, there’s the Cultural Experience Workshops and Community Events.
Celtic Colours presents a full complement of Cultural Experience workshops in communities all around Cape Breton Island. This is an ideal way to enhance your Celtic Colours experience, or become more immersed in the culture. The Learning Opportunities Series will entertain and enlighten you with a variety of Workshops, Presentations, Demonstrations and Lectures on Celtic history, music, dance, art, craft, and community heritage. At Participatory Events you are welcome as a spectator or as part of the program, as Community Square Dances, Sessions, and Kitchen Rackets give you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the action. Cape Breton Island’s spectacular scenery is magical, so we’ve added a series of Outdoor Events. Guided Walks, Hikes, and Bicycle Tours put you in the fresh air. The Visual Art Series offers a wide variety of events for art enthusiasts, skilled artists, hobbyists, and collectors. Exhibitions, Demonstrations, Workshops and Plein Air events are hosted by local galleries, guilds, and community art organizations. There’s even an opportunity to have some dinner before your show, spend an afternoon enjoying lunch, or grab some breakfast to start your travels. The Community Meals offer an opportunity to break bread together and share a home-cooked meal.
One of the most popular features of the Celtic Colours International Festival every year is the Festival Club. Located at the Gaelic College in St. Ann's, the Festival Club opens as the evening concerts are closing, offering an opportunity for Festival artists to perform in a more informal setting, or to get a session in with friends and colleagues from near and far. Hosted by well-known singer-songwriter Buddy MacDonald, from the nearby North Shore, performance is by invitation only and depends upon artist availability on any given night. Although the license only allows the bar to stay open until 3 am, the music has been known to continue well beyond that time.
