Celtic Colours 2024

The 2024 Celtic Colours line up has been announced! The Chestico Museum is pleased to be hosting three events during the Festival.

On Friday, October 11th the museum will host Lifting Spirits and Feet with Celtic Music at 1 PM. Join us for an afternoon of discovery as Michelle Greenwell shares the traditions of our music and dance. Michelle Greenwell will provide you with valuable tips for the concerts, walk you through a square set pattern, share a spot of tea and homemade treats. The cost is $10.

On Tuesday, October 15th at 2 PM, a Storytelling Session entitled Stepping Through Time: Music in My Feet Through the Years will be held at the museum. You are invited to a visit with Mary Janet MacDonald, who step danced and taught Cape Breton style step dancing for many years. Mary Janet, along with a few guests, will share memories of learning to step dance and relate stories of ceilidhs and events from the late 1950s to the present day. Tea will be served.  Admission is $10.

A roast beef dinner with all the trimmings is available that afternoon at St. Peter’s Parish Hall beginning at 4:00 PM. The meal is sponsored by the Port Hood Knights of Columbus. The cost is $30.

Our Close to the Floor show will be that evening at 7:30 PM at Strathspey Performing Arts Centre in Mabou. It is well-established that dance tradition is an important, if not defining, influence on Cape Breton’s traditional music. In Cape Breton step dancing, all the movement is below the waist with the arms kept as still as possible. The feet barely leave the floor, and the heel is never higher than the toe. This is known as “close to the floor” and it’s the best compliment a Cape Breton step dancer can get. Tonight, this annual dance concert will showcase the Cape Breton style alongside the Métis dance tradition of the Red River Jig reimagined with a hip hop twist, and some steps from Prince Edward Island. Accompanied by fiddles, pipes, and guitar from Cape Breton, PEI, Alberta, Newfoundland, and Scotland, these amazing dancers will delight and amaze you with their energetic rhythm, traditional steps, and innovative style. They might even inspire you to get up and try a step or two yourself. Among the performers are Beòlach, Breabach, Richard Wood, Alex Kusturok with Tim Turrett, Ivan Flett Memorial Dancers, Margie Beaton, Cheryl, Iain & Ann MacQuarrie and Tammy MacDonald.

Ticket prices are $40 and are available through the Celtic Colours site. A limited number will be available at the Chestico Museum. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, July 9th at 10 AM ADT. More information on tickets can be accessed here.

We look forward to seeing you this year during Celtic Colours!