Ah, Columbus Day Weekend in New England. Crisp autumn air, beautiful foliage, football – and some toe-tapping Celtic music, courtesy of BCMFest. This year's Columbus Day Weekend begins and ends with BCMFest, literally: on Friday, Oct. 9, the third BCMFest Goes West(ford) concert, and on Columbus Day (Oct. 12), the monthly BCMFest Celtic Music Monday show at Club Passim in Harvard Square, which will feature local Irish music.

BCMFest Goes West(ford) has become a popular annual showcase for some of Greater Boston's best young Celtic musicians. The 2009 line-up includes the Folk Arts Quartet, whose tunes and songs combine folk fiddle styles with rich classical arrangements and a 21st-century sensibility to produce an entertaining hybrid "Chambergrass" music; Doug Lamey and Cliff McGann, who present the exciting, rugged Cape Breton fiddle tradition; and Katie McNally, the 2009 New England Scottish Fiddle Champion and one-time runner-up Junior National Scottish Fiddle Champion, an emerging talent with an ever-increasing store of original compositions to complement her traditional repertoire.

The concert will take place at 8 p.m., at the Westford Museum, 2-4 Boston Road in Westford. Admission is $15 for adults ($11 for members of the museum), $5 for teens, free for children age 12 and under. All proceeds benefit BCMFest. For more information, e-mail  Museum@Westford.com, call 978-692-555, or see the museum website at westford.com/museum.

Having offered sounds of Cape Breton and Scotland the past two months, BCMFest Celtic Music Monday will shift the musical map to Ireland for October. Among the musicians to be featured is the duo of Sean Connor and Liam Hart, who anchor weekly sessions at the Banshee in Dorchester and Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square. Connor, a native of Co. Mayo, has been heavily influenced by both Sliabh Luachra and Sligo styles and cultivated a unique, high-octane brand of fiddling. Hart plays flute but is also known for his solid guitar accompaniment, and as a robust singer of songs in English and Irish.

Tickets for Celtic Music Monday are $12, $6 for members of Club Passim, WGBH and WUMB. For reservations, go to clubpassim.org or call 617-492-7679.

For more information on BCMFest, see bcmfest.com; you can also sign up for the BCMFest e-mail list via the Web site.