Cathy Jordan, the lead singer of traditional Irish band Dervish, doesn’t require a lot of convincing to visit Boston, so she’s more than happy that she and her bandmates will be in town this month for Boston Celtic Music Festival (BCMFest).

“Boston is such an extension of Ireland it’s like another county,” said Jordan in a recent interview. “There’s such a huge Irish diaspora in Boston and the Greater Boston area, and there has been so much great music played there down through the generations. 

“The audiences are always fantastic, so when we see Boston on the tour schedule, we’re always delighted because we know for sure for sure it’s gonna be a great night!”

Dervish will be the special guest for the 22nd edition of BCMFest, which takes place Jan. 16-19 at venues in Harvard Square in Cambridge and Davis Square in Somerville.

A program of Cambridge non-profit Passim, BCMFest is the annual showcase for Greater Boston's rich offerings of music, song, and dance from Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and other Celtic communities. BCMFest features traditional acts and others that draw on contemporary sounds and ideas; full-time, professional touring acts; and local session musicians, highlighting performers from across the generations.

Dervish will headline the BCMFest Nightcap finale concert on Jan. 18 in the Somerville Theater, a performance that will include collaborations with local musicians and dancers. 

BCMFest 2025 also will feature Rakish – the fiddle-guitar duo of Maura Shawn Scanlin and Conor Hearn – as the inaugural Brian O’Donovan Legacy Artist, honoring the late Brian O’Donovan, a towering figure in the evolution of Boston’s Celtic music scene. Known for its seamless connection of Celtic and Americana-influenced styles, Rakish will serve as the festival’s resident artists, appearing in a variety of settings. In addition, Scanlin is the musical director for the Nightcap concert.

The festival line-up also includes: Hanneke Cassel; Matt & Shannon Heaton; Scottish Fish; Copley Street with Owen Marshall; Ed Pearlman, Jacqueline Schwab, and Laura Scott; Torrin Ryan & Amy Law; Casey Murray & Molly Tucker; Marty Frye, Sarah Collins, and David McKinley-Ward; the Adam Hendey Band; Elias Cardoso; the Rose Clancy Trio; Magpie; Isabel Oliart and Friends; the Clare Fraser Trio; Sarah Ann Hajjar & Alan Chiasson; the Coyne Family Band; the Simon Lace Trio; Fox River; Joe Keane; Mrs. Wilberforce; Ken Pearlman with Janine Randall; Helen Kuhar & Rose Jackson; Jen O’Shea; Riko Matsuoka; and Clara Rose & Raphaella Hero. 

Tickets and all festival details, including updates, are available at passim.org/bcmfest.

This will be the second year of BCMFest’s new format, which includes a headline act for the Nightcap concert and additional venues for performances and sessions. BCMFest events take place in Harvard Square’s Club Passim, as well as The Burren, The Rockwell, Crystal Ballroom, and Somerville Theater, all in Davis Square. 

“There was a lot of excitement about the events in The Burren, The Rockwell, and Crystal Ballroom last year,” says festival director Summer McCall. “Having these venues as part of our Saturday Dayfest program really seemed to bring a new energy to the festival, and quite a lot of people who hadn’t experienced BCMFest before, and the Nightcap concert in the Crystal Ballroom that featured [Quebec band] Le Vent du Nord was a perfect ending.

“We’re continuing to add some touches to the new format this year, in ways that affirm the special music community we have here in Boston, and we’re so happy to welcome Dervish – one of the most exciting and accomplished Irish bands of the past few decades – to be a part of BCMFest.”

Originally formed in 1989, Dervish has performed all over the world, represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest, served as cultural ambassadors to China (where they held an impromptu session on the Great Wall), and, in 2019, received a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award. Their most recent album, “The Great Irish Songbook,” featured classic Irish songs sung by special guests like Steve Earle, Andrea Corr, Vince Gill, Kate Rusby, Imelda May, and Rhiannon Gidden.

In addition to Jordan, who also plays bodhran and bones, Dervish’s members are Shane Mitchell (accordion), Liam Kelly (flute/whistle), Brian McDonagh (mandola/mandolin), Michael Holmes (bouzouki), and Tom Morrow (fiddle). 

Dervish has built its compelling sound around the instrumental and song traditions of Sligo, Leitrim, and North Roscommon, which Jordan describes as “very high energy. It’s fast and furious, highly ornamented and very wild.” She pointed out that Sligo-born musicians like Paddy Killoran, James Morrison, and Michael Coleman were the first to make recordings of traditional Irish music after they had resettled in New York City in the 1920.

“And then the recordings of their music traveled back to Ireland and became very popular all over the country,” added Jordan.  

But the band has proved quite comfortable in other kinds of musical settings: They’ve covered contemporary material, including “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves, the 1971 hit single by Cher, and performed in large festivals featuring acts like Iron Maiden and Sting. Jordan doesn’t find this at all baffling.

“When you think about it, all types of music were influenced by the various folk music and traditions around the world, and these were very strong foundations on which to build other music,” she explained. “Traditional Irish music in and of itself is a very strong, powerful music to listen to; its roots go very deep, and people can relate to that.” 

McCall, the festival director, said the launch of the Brian O’Donovan Legacy Artist – made possible through the Brian O’Donovan Legacy Fund, established by Passim and the O’Donovan family – adds a further dimension to BCMFest while honoring the work of Scanlin and Hearn, who as Rakish combine a solid grounding in Irish and American folk traditions with a shared interest in, and love for, chamber music and jazz. 

A two-time US National Scottish Fiddle Champion, Scanlin wields the technical range of an accomplished classical violinist, and the deep sensitivity of a traditional musician. Hearn, a native to the Irish music communities of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, has played for a number of traditional music acts and bands. 

In addition to BCMFest, the duo have appeared at Front Row Boston and “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn,” and played across the country, as well as at the Celtic Colors festival in Nova Scotia. Last year, Rakish released its third album, “Now O Now.”

“Brian’s influence on us and the community was so deep and simultaneously so widespread that it’s kind of hard to describe succinctly,” said Hearn and Scanlin in a recent interview. “Of course, it’s the ultimate honor to be connected with him in this way this year. He always made us feel really loved and supported, so it feels special and kind of nostalgic for BCMFest to support us and believe in us in this specific way, the way he did. Playing music in Brian’s honor feels like the truest way for us to show our gratitude to him and keep his legacy alive.”

With more than a decade of BCMFest experiences under its belt, Rakish has found that the festival promotes fellowship along with traditional music and dance.

“It always feels like a place where you’ll discover something for the first time,” according to Scanlin and Hearn. “That also speaks to the collaborative nature of BCMFest and the way it often transcends some genre boundaries. Often we – everyone – will tend to stay in our little sub-niches and only go to our regular session or dance, etc. But the memories of the sessions, dances, and parties at BCMFest are fond because they were some of the first times we’ve seen everyone from these communities in the same place playing and communing with each other.”

An overview of BCMFest 2025:

•First Round concert, Jan. 16, Club Passim: performances by Ed Pearlman, Jacqueline Schwab, and Laura Scott; the Adam Hendey Band; Hanneke Cassel.

•Roots and Branches Concert, Jan. 17, Club Passim: performances by Elias Cardoso Band; Magpie; Rakish.

•Boston Urban Ceilidh, Jan. 17, Crystal Ballroom: participatory and social dances from the New England contra and Scottish traditions, live music by Calico and the band of Caroline Dressler, Adam Hendy, Campbell Webster, and Simon Lace, with caller Summer McCall. Performance by O’Riley Irish Dance.

•Dayfest, Jan. 18: performances and participatory events during the day at Crystal Ballroom, The Burren, and The Rockwell. For the list of performers, times, and locations, see passim.org/bcmfest.

•BCMFest Nightcap concert, Jan. 18, Somerville Theatre: featured performance by Dervish; collaborations with other festival artists; tribute to Brian O’Donovan.

•BCMFest performer workshops, Jan, 19, Passim School of Music (26 Church St., Harvard Square): Details at passim.org/bcmfest.

•Live Music Brunch, Jan. 19, The Burren Backroom: Seán Heely Band. Ticket link at passim.org/bcmfest.