by WGO Staff
As the pandemic continues to impact the possibility of large gatherings and international travel, and with no ability to determine what conditions may be in the fall, Celtic Colours International Festival will once again deliver a celebration of music and culture online this October.
“It is with great regret that we must move in the direction of an online Festival again in 2021,” says Mike MacSween, Executive Director of the Festival. “We’ve witnessed some promising signs in early 2021 with the advance of vaccines in our Province and continued hard work in keeping Covid-19 out of our communities. But in April and May, we saw first-hand that Cape Breton Island would not be immune to the pandemic, with the third wave washing upon our shores.”
While it is clear that this pandemic won’t last forever, it is unpredictable to say the least. Things may improve between now and October, but so many questions remain—will borders open up? Will social distancing restrictions persist into October? And perhaps more to the point, will there be further waves of the pandemic? Many experts will weigh in on this, but the truth is nobody knows for sure. One thing is sure though—that the Celtic Colours International Festival will continue to celebrate Cape Breton Island’s music, dance, tradition, and culture with a series of concerts featuring some of the best musicians and dancers in the world.
“Last year was an exceptional one, and we had hoped to be able to return to our usual approach in 2021,” MacSween continues. “While we are certainly disappointed that we will not be hosting our Festival in person this year, we look forward to delivering a great online entertainment experience for our fans and viewers around the world.”
Celtic Colours At Home 2021, presented by TD Bank Group, will build upon the experience gained by hosting an online version of the Festival last year. Working with partners NovaStream, Soundpark Studios, and Sound Source Pro Audio, Celtic Colours will be presenting livestreamed concerts, as they did last year. In addition to these nightly concerts, Festival organizers are also developing more content to be enjoyed at home, while providing the opportunity to employ more artists this year.
“We’ve learned a great deal from our experience in 2020, and we are developing plans to do even more this year,” says MacSween. “We received very positive feedback on last year’s online Festival, and if you enjoyed that, you are undoubtedly going to be enthusiastic about our plans this year.”
Check the Celtic Colours website for more details to be announced in the coming months, and mark your calendars for Celtic Colours International Festival At Home 2021, October 8-16, 2021.
