The Celtic Colours International Festival finishes its thirteenth year with a nomination for the 2010 East Coast Music Award in the Event of the Year category. The award nomination was announced last week at the ECMA 2010 press conference held at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre.
“It’s an honour to be nominated for ECMA Event of the Year,” says Dave Mahalik, Information Officer for the Festival. “This is an award that is voted on by your peers in the East Coast music industry, so it’s nice to be recognized as one of the top events in Atlantic Canada. And it’s especially nice to be nominated when the awards are held in your hometown.”
The nine-day Festival, which takes place all over Cape Breton Island each October, has previously been named ECMA Event of the Year in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The industry awards will be presented at this year’s Industry Awards Brunch on Friday, March 5th, at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre.
Celtic Colours will also be getting international attention this week when the first of a three-part feature is presented on Celtic Music Radio. Celtic Music Radio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, and has a mission to be a strong cultural voice for contemporary and traditional Scottish music, arts and culture, pioneering new frontiers in communication and broadcasting by including people that do not have access to mainstream media. Celtic Music Radio Presenter Gordon Hotchkiss attended the Festival this year and gathered material for the three part series.
Part One will be presented Wednesday, December 9th at 3pm local time and repeated at 10pm Wednesday and on Thursday, December 10th at 8am. This program, apart from featuring music from festival artists, will take an overview of the festival looking behind the scenes through interviews with the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, Mayann E. Francis; Joella Foulds; Ed Rodgers; Buddy MacDonald; Shauna Walters and Jennifer Pino; Geradette Brown; and Derek and Bernard Cameron of Feis Mabou.
Part Two will be presented Wednesday, December 16th at 3pm local time and repeated at 10pm Wednesday and on Thursday, December 17th at 8am. Part Two will concentrate on the Irish Connection in Cape Breton and other non-Cape Breton guests at the Festival including interviews with Liam Ó Maonlai, Brendan Begley, Máire O’Keeffe, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Brian Ó hEadhra and Qristina and Quinn Bachand.
Part Three will be presented Wednesday, December 23rd at 3pm local time and repeated at 10pm Wednesday and on Thursday, December 24th at 8am. Part Three will concentrate on the music and culture of Cape Breton through interviews with J.P. Cormier, Rachel Davies, Dawn and Margie Beaton, Mary Jane Lamond, Colin Grant, Gillian Boucher and John MacLean.
The program can be heard online at www.celticmusicradio.net.
