The annual Northeast Louisiana Celtic Festival, hosted by Enoch’s Irish Pub and Café, will take place Saturday, October 6th. The Event will start at 10 a.m. and will last until 7 p.m. The festival will be held in Kiroli Park in West Monroe and admission is only $.50.
This year’s festival will showcase a wide variety of traditional Celtic music, food and workmanship. Vendors from all over the country will be selling traditional Celtic Wares and chefs will be cooking Celtic cuisines and local favorites all day. Along with the vendors, workshops will be held, including a special workshop on native Celtic plants by one of the state’s leading experts and there will also be dancing, games, storytelling and activities for the kids.
Some of the other activities highlighted for the Festival include pottery demos by ULM professor Gary Ratcliff, ULM instructor Gene Hayes will be exhibiting his hand-made canoes and a traditional wood sculptor making sculptures on site. Doyle Jeter, owner of Enoch’s Irish Pub and head of the event said that the festival will be enjoyed by, “anyone and everyone and all age groups, young and old.”
As always, the biggest attraction at the Celtic Festival will be the music. Artists will be playing traditional Celtic music, along with mixes of Cajun and American folk music, on two different stages throughout the entire festival. This year’s headliners include Needfire, and Irish rock band from Dallas, TX, Legacy Traditional Irish Band from Jackson, MS and the Mickey Finns from NY. Other musicians include ULM’s The Sound of Today, a John Lennon/Beatles cover band, James Flanagan from Cork, Ireland and many others.
After the festival ends, there will be more music and an after party at Enoch’s Irish Pub in Monroe. The after party will be hosted by Jusin Murphy, “one of Celtic music’s most talented flute and guitar players” and will a time when fans can meet the musicians who played during the festival, followed by jam session with all of the artists.
The festival is scheduled to go on rain or shine, and in case of severe weather, artists will perform at Enoch’s Irish Pub later in the evening. For more information, go to www.nelacelticfest.org.
