Traditional music will have a home when the East Coast Music Awards come to Cape Breton Island as 2010 ECMA Event of the Year nominee the Celtic Colours International Festival hosts the Celtic Colours Festival Club. Hosted by North Shore singer-songwriter Buddy MacDonald, the Celtic Colours Festival Club will run from 11pm to 3am on Friday and Saturday nights at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre.
The Festival Club is a unique feature of Celtic Colours. It is the place to go each night during the festival as artists and audiences gather for a late night session after their concerts. The club offers an opportunity for musicians to get together and play in a more informal setting that allows them to collaborate and have some fun.
“Festival Club is the heart and soul of Celtic Colours and we plan to recreate that atmosphere of sharing and celebration,” says Joella Foulds, Artistic Director of Celtic Colours. “So many people are coming here for the ECMA event and we want to show them how wonderful our artists are and what great music they make. We’d like to invite our regular Celtic Colours fans and all of the folks who can’t make it here in October to join us for some great craic. The only thing missing will be the falling leaves.”
As usual, the lineup won’t be announced in advance, but many of the Celtic Colours regulars have already lined up to perform, and given the nature of the Festival Club, it’s the unexpected collaborations that take place when artists get together in this sort of atmosphere that usually make for the most exciting moments.
“Having hosted the Celtic Colours Festival Club since its beginning,” says Buddy MacDonald,” I know what an integral role it plays in showing the world the importance of bringing together great music and great people.”
And that is point of putting on an event like this. Celtic Colours International Festival is more than a Celtic music festival, it is a celebration of traditional music and culture on Cape Breton Island, and that musical culture lives in gatherings like what the Festival Club represents—a coming together of musicians to make music for the pure joy of it.
Celtic Colours Festival Club is a licensed event taking place March 5th and 6th at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre, 11pm-3am. General admission is $5 at the door. Conference delegates will be admitted with their passes. For more information about visit the Festival, including the dates for 2010 and highlights from 2009, visit celtic-colours.com.
