This year’s Saline Celtic Festival is being held on Saturday, July 17, from noon until midnight.  Advance tickets are $10, while at-the-gate tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for 13 through 17-year-olds, and free for anyone under 12. I usually wax rhapsodic in this column about the Festival, but this year, I spoke with the long-term  A.D, Sheila Graziano, about her experiences in order to give you a bit more of a backstage glance at it.

TP:  What would make someone not interested in Celtic Music interested in attending the Festival?
SG: From rugby matches to this year’s grand display of weavers and spinners, there is something for everyone at the festival!  There are: sports  (rugby, Irish football, Highland athletic demos), historic re-enactments, animals (Copper Leaf Farm’s display of Celtic dog breeds, the sheepdog  demos),  jousting contests, a Wee Folks area with craft projects and entertainment (culminating in a parade mid-day), pipe bands, a textile arts display and demos (we will even have a demo  of “waulking of tweeds” with Renee Ginell singing centuries-old waulking  songs),  two stages of music and dance (some participatory),  Celtic merchants, a session (“ceili”) tent (open to all participants!), beer tents, a Highland Dance competition,  a monster in the river (!) and more.  I know I’m “prejudiced”, but I seriously cannot imagine why anyone would NOT want to come to the event!

But, of course, our main interest here is in the music. So, which acts are you most excited to have this year?
I actually have three headliners this year.  Beth Patterson is returning—she’s a mighty fine musician/singer, and her wicked sense of humor is legendary.  Brogue is a collection of outstanding musicians and dancers—based in Toronto, the group is led by Cape Bretoner Dan MacDonald, whose family name is one of the biggies in Nova Scotia....  Brogue has three musicians and four dancers—great stuff.  Vishten (based on Prince Edward Island) is coming the farthest.   They are incredible—all four members are multi-instrumentalists, they do four part vocal harmonies, seated foot percussion (Quebecois style) and stepdancing.

That being said, I’m also tickled to have some fine Michigan bands on the roster: An Dro (from Grand Rapids) will be making their debut appearance at our festival, and Finvarra’s Wren will be returning after a bit of a hiatus.   And of course, Fiddlers ReStrung will be there to represent the incredible alternative string music program supported by the Saline community—the Celtic Festival and the high school fiddle program in Saline both started at just about the same time in the mid 1990s, and we are very proud of the fact that both of these cultural entities are still going strong.

How do you choose which bands appear
at the Festival?
It’s important to me that the people we hire will not sequester themselves during the day, but rather will mingle and connect with the attendees—community is a very important part of the whole event!

How do you manage to get so many great musicians to appear?
The buzz in the circuit is stellar.   We treat our performers very well and with respect, which believe it or not, is not necessarily “the norm”.  My personal philosophy has always been “a happy performer is a good performer”, and we have certainly had our share of magic moments on our stages!  I think that the performers are often pleasantly surprised by the extent of the connection that our area has with traditional music and dance, which stimulates a lot of great conversation and even lasting relationships between guests and locals.

Tell us more about the pre-Festival Friday events.
The hands/feet-on workshops early Friday evening are a great opportunity for people to come and expand their knowledge of Celtic music and dance and meet some of our performers.  Friday night’s Limerick contest is for the literary types, and the Mr. Pretty Legs in Kilt contest (entry forms on website www.salineceltic.org) is rather unique and always a great time (emceed by Beth Patterson).... Friday night we’ll be featuring Road Kilt, who played last year and met with great audience enthusiasm.   There are two members who are alumni of Saline High School (Ezra Graziano and Jessie Nieves), so there is a tight local connection there that I am really tickled about. Pub Night in general is quite the party! This is also held at Mill Pond Park, from 5:30pm on, with general admission being just $5.