Happy St. David's Day!

Saint David's Day (Welsh: Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant) is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on March 1st each year. The date of March 1st was chosen in remembrance of the death of Saint David on that day in 589, and has been celebrated by followers since then. The date was declared a national day of celebration within Wales in the 18th century.
In 2003, in the United States, St. David's Day was recognised officially as the national day of the Welsh, and on March 1st the Empire State Building was floodlit in the Welsh national colors, red, green and white. It is invariably celebrated by Welsh societies throughout the world with dinners, parties, recitals and concerts.
To celebrate the day, people wear a symbol of either a leek, or daffodil. The leek is patriotic, arising from an occasion when a troop of Welsh were able to distinguish each other from a troop of English enemy dressed in similar fashion by wearing leeks. An alternative emblem developed in recent years is the daffodil, used and preferred over the leek by the British Government as it lacks the overtones of patriotic defiance associated with the leek.

Cardiff
The 2010 St David’s Day celebrations in Cardiff will include concerts, a parade and a food festival. Events started on February 26 with the third annual Really Welsh Food Festival in the city centre.
Soldiers from the Royal Welsh Regiment changed the guard at Cardiff Castle's south gate on February 27 and 28. Visitors to the castle on March 1st will receive a free tube of daffodil bulbs to commemorate the day. On St David’s Day, the seventh National St David’s Day Parade takes place in the city centre. Following the parade, a number of Welsh entertainers will perform from a bandstand and in the evening Cardiff Central Library will provide free entertainment and food. St. David's Hall will stage its traditional St David’s Day concert in the evening of March 1st with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC National Chorus of Wales and youth choruses.

Beoga at Albright College

http://www.starseries.org for full event details
http://www.beogamusic.com for more on the band

Irish Coffee...

Traditional Irish Coffee - Perfect for the coming blizzard...A common misconception is that the Irish Coffee recipe was invented in America the 1950's. In fact the original Irish coffee recipe was invented by a chef at Foynes' port, County Limerick in the 1930's. Foynes' port was where planes on route from Europe to America would stop to refuel before crossing the Atlantic Ocean it was succeded by Shannon International Airport in the west of Ireland. Joseph Sheridan, the chef in question, was seeking a way to keep passengers warm as their planes were being refueled. The Irish coffee was conceived after a group of American passengers disembarked from a Pan Am flying boat on a bitterly cold winter's evening in the 1940s. Sheridan added whiskey to the coffee to warm the passengers. The passengers enjoying the taste of the coffee, asked if they were being served Brazilian coffee, Sheridan told them it was Irish coffee.

Recipe by Noel McMeel- Found on the "Good Food Ireland" website: http://www.goodfoodireland.ie/index.cfm

Serves 1

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

25ml/1fl oz Irish Whiskey
1 tsp brown raw cane sugar
1 heaped tbsp whipped pouring cream
1 hot double espresso with a small measure of hot water to fill the glass

Method:

1. Use warmed coffee glasses and add the whiskey.

2. Add the sugar and dissolve in the whiskey.

3. Add the coffee and stir well.

4. Whip the cream lightly but still able to pour.

5. The lightly whipped cream is carefully poured over the back of a spoon initially held just above the surface of the coffee and gradually raised a little as you pour, the cream should float on top.

6.Serve and enjoy

Nic Gareiss- Irish Sean Nos Dance and American Flat-Footing

From Nic Gareiss's Myspace page: A native of the state of Michigan, Nic Gareiss' dancing incorporates footwork vocabulary from many step dance styles to rhythmically accompany traditional music. Nic has studied a broad variety of percussive movement forms, from Irish sean-nós dance, to American flat-footing, to Quebecois gigue. From this wide berth of traditional dance experience, Nic has gleaned figurations, motives and shoe sounds from percussive dance traditions worldwide. When performing with a live musician, Nic engages and reawakens a musical dialogue between feet and instrument. By utilizing imitation, ornaments and contrasting rhythmic patterns, Gareiss really is creating music on the floor.

Traditional Celtic Social Dancing

Before Irish Step dancing and Scottish highland dancing became dances for competition and displays they were a part of the traditional social dances of Ireland and Scotland. In Brittany, the traditional Fest Noz is still very popular, with gatherings taking place almost every night in the summer. These social dances are easy to learn and require no special equipment beyond instruction, a good band or DJ and a steady supply of pints to keep the spirits high.

Irish Set Dancing

Step dancing, set dancing and dancing at céilís remains popular not only in Ireland but in all corners of the world. During the 16th and 17th centuries “crossroads dancing” became very popular. The Irish would meet on country roads, often where the roads crossed, bring food, drink, and music, while watching out for British soldiers. They danced their country dances, the ceili dances and set dances that are still danced today. The clergy condemned “crossroads dancing” so the Gaelic League introduced the first Ceili in 1697. This let dancer’s dance indoors under supervision.

Set dances, sometimes called "country sets", are a popular form of folk dancing in Ireland. Set dances are based on quadrilles. The latter were court dances which were transformed by the Irish into a unique folk dance of the Irish rural communities. Set dancing is good exercise, but it's a social activity as well. The focus in on fun, more so than fancy footwork. Classes are formed in communities in social halls or sometimes in pubs. It's challenging to learn all the steps, but sometimes a "caller" will call out the steps so even the beginners can complete a complicated set without much trouble.

Competition level Set dancing in Killarney,County Kerry:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj13osgy2M0

Céilí dancing (pronounced kay-lee) is different from set dancing in that a céilí is a dance, as in the event. It is a social, friendly gathering of folks, both young and old, where everyone dances. Céilí dances very widely throughout Ireland and the rest of the world. A céilí dance may be performed with as few as two people and as many as sixteen. Céilí dances may also be danced with an unlimited number of couples in a long line or proceeding around in a circle (such as in "The Walls of Limerick", "The Waves of Tory", or "Bonfire Dance"). Céilí dances are often fast and complex. In a social setting, a céilí dance may be "called" -- that is, the upcoming steps are announced during the dance for the benefit of newcomers. The ceili dances are typically danced to Irish instruments such as the Irish hand drum or harp.Set dancers practice for months learning various dances and celebrate with a céilí or a "hooley" (a traditional Irish evening of music, song and dance).

Ceili Dancing in Portland, Maine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZuUc1LI_SQ

Sean-Nós Dancing

Sean-Nós, litterally meaning old style, dancing has its roots in the Connemara region in the west of Ireland. It looks a little like tap dancing but is danced to the traditional reels (mostly), jigs, and hornpipes. Whereas the more popular, with the youth at any rate, Irish step dancing we've become accustomed to seeing in America, is danced with a rigid, high-stepping style, sean-nos is a freestyle, rhythmic dance that is low to the ground and highly improvisational. There are some "battering" steps that are typical and a bit of arm swinging and a few other basic bits of footwork to learn and then just take it from there. Sean-Nos steps can be found today in tap dancing in Appalachian flat-footing and in clogging.

Brian Cunningham Sean Nos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lwfv86eLRA

Nic Gareiss from Michigan: Sean Nos, Flat Footing, plain amazing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orqURiFLeMA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aphScE2oZts

Brittany’s Fest Noz

A Fest Noz (Breton for festival of the night) is a Breton traditional festival, similar to a céilí.
There is traditional music and dancing, accompanied by drinking. Although the traditional dances of the Fest Noz are old, some dating back to the Middle Ages, the Fest Noz tradition is more recent, dating back no further than the 1950s. Many festoù-noz are held outside Brittany, bringing the Breton culture to life outside Breton territory.

In the past, many of these dances were held officially in order to trample the ground so as to have a firm earth floor in a house or a solid surface for farm work (the "aire neuve" dances), which explains the presence of stamping movements in the dances. At one time the church banned "kof-a-kof" (stomach-to-stomach) dances, meaning dancing in pairs. These festivals were a chance for young people to meet and size each other up, on a social level, by their clothes, and also to see how quickly they got tired since dances would sometimes go on for a long time and involve complex and swift steps needing a certain amount of effort and skill.

These days, dancers are mainly looking to have a good time dancing in a group and spend some quality time together. A lot of people talk of sometimes reaching a state of trance thanks to the music (powerful and repetitive, which could also be compared to that of raves) and the physical exertion. In many ways, taking part in a large fest-noz (like those which are often held near larger Breton towns and cities) is like an evening in a night club.

There are hundreds of traditional dances, of which the most well-known are gavottes, the an dro, the 'hanter dro, the plinn and the Scottish. During the fest-noz, most dances are practised in a chain or in a circle (everyone holds hands), but there are also dances in pairs and "choreographed" dances

Recent videos of Fest Noz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZIJlOc5rQ8 and an AnDro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDOgzC3uEyE

2009 Celtic Classic Champions

Here are the winners from the 2009 Celtic Classic competitions:

Haggis Eating Competition
First- Place “Big Dave” Strout (48 seconds)
Second- Place Chris Westgate
Third-Place Marty Chamberlow

US National Highland Athletic Championships
First- Kerry Overfelt
Second- Harrison Bailey III
Third- Sean Betz

Fiddle Competition
First- $100: Chelsea Hadden Second-$50: Julia Lipkis
Third-$25: Stephanie Underwood

Age 12 and Under Novice Division:
First- $75: Alex Weir
Second- $50: Cameron Bell
Third-$25: Lucy Zhang

Celtic Classic Invitational Pipe Band Competition :
First-Stuart Highlanders Pipe Band
Second-Ulster Scottish Pipe Band
Third-Balmoral Highlanders Pipe Band

Congrats everybody!

Capture the Flags! For a chance to win 2 Tickets to see Solas at Sellersville Theatre!

By now I hope that all of you are familiar with the 7 Celtic Nations, and their flags...
because now the Hunt is on!

Starting on Saturday (9/26) there will be hidden throughout the festival, 8.5"x 11" sized flags of the seven Celtic Nations (see example image, though obviously the colors are completely wrong...). Find all seven flags, and send us a message telling us the name of the nation and where each flag is hidden. Hint: Check out the craft and food vendors and our community sponsor booths..

There will be three prize drawings throughout Saturday. Once you capture all seven flags and contact us, you will be added to the prize pool and remain in the pool for the rest of the day. Winners will be taken out of the pool.

Drawing times and prizes are:
Noon: Anything out of the souvenir tent $25 and under.

3 pm: Kilt and Sporran Mug (see picture in wall photo album).

6 pm: 2 TICKETS TO SEE SOLAS AT SELLERSVILLE THEATRE, DEC. 3rd!

To enter: Email or Direct message us on Twitter with your full name, phone number and answers. We need your contact information in order to contact you if you are a winner.

Direct message: www.twitter.com/CelticClassic

Email: celticclassic@gmail.com (please use "Flags" as a subject line)

If you need a refresher on the 7 Celtic Nations, visit the Celtic Quest area, near the Icehouse...

Good luck!