Hi everyone, In case you hadn’t heard, or maybe you’d forgotten, there’s a little old festival unerway this weekend: the 17th edition of BCMFest (Boston Celtic Music Fest), from January 16-19. Once again, there will be all kinds of music, song and dance events, celebrating the rich trove of Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton and other Celtic and related traditions in the Greater Boston area. This will be the second year in which BCMFest welcomes special guest artists who have had an impact on our community, not only as performers but as mentors and teachers. At BCMFest 2020 will be:

1. Kevin Doyle, whose Irish dancing has enlivened concerts, festivals (including BCMFest), ceilidhs and many other events around New England for many years.
2. Wendy MacIsaac & Mary Jane Lamond, major figures in Cape Breton music, individually and as a duo – Wendy a much-admired fiddler, pianist and dancer; Mary Jane an accomplished singer in the Scottish Gaelic tradition.

You can catch Kevin and Wendy & Mary Jane during Dayfest (Saturday, January 18), at special in-the-round sets, and then later on that evening at BCMFest Nightcap, the festival’s finale concert. In addition, Wendy and Mary Jane will each lead a workshop on Sunday (January 19) in the Passim of School of Music. There is, of course, so much more. At BCMFest 2020, you’ll be able to sample the great diversity of sounds, styles and personalities to be found in Boston’s Celtic music scene. There will be plenty of familiar faces from BCMFest’s past but also some new ones. And if you want to do more than listen, well, there are participatory events (Boston Urban Ceilidh, anyone?) open to all. For the full list of performers and all festival info, this is the place to be. Over the next few weeks, The BCMFest Blog will feature interviews with some of this year’s performers, to give you a bit of insight into who they are, how they got interested in Celtic music and dance, and what they’ll be doing at BCMFest 2020. See ya around.