EDITOR’S NOTE: “21st Yachats Celtic Music Festival announces November lineup” was published originally on July 2, 2022, by YachatsNews.com, an ArtsWatch Community Partner. ArtsWatch is republishing the piece with permission.
The premier event of the Yachats fall calendar is headed back for its 21st season, and Celtic music lovers are snapping up tickets.
Just days after the entertainment lineup for the Nov. 10-12 Yachats Celtic Music Festival was announced, thousands of dollars’ worth of tickets had already been purchased.
“I’d really urge people to rush to get their tickets, because they’re selling fast,” said music director Stephen Farish. “This is the festival that everybody knows and loves.”
Last year, Farish said, a lot of people couldn’t get tickets to the concerts they wanted because they waited until November to act.
The headline events of the popular festival are the performers, of course, with world-class Celtic musicians and singers from Ireland and Scotland to San Francisco and Portland set to take the stage. The Yachats Commons anchors most of the entertainment, with additional attractions at the Yachats Community Presbyterian Church.
A returning special (and free) event is slated to be “Piper on the Point.” Weather permitting, bagpiper/fiddler/storyteller Kevin Carr will perform at sunset at Yachats State Park overlooking the mouth of the bay on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 10-11.
Ranging in price from $20 for a single performance to $80 for a full day of concerts at the Commons, tickets are available by visiting PurplePass. In addition, there will be free music events throughout the weekend, plus instruction in Irish dance.
All the performers are Celtic music crowd-pleasers, with an emphasis on two acts in particular — the band Dervish, and Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas. Hailing from northwest Ireland, Dervish is “one of the most popular Celtic bands in the world,” said Farish. The six-member band has been performing Irish traditional music for 30 years and has played at festivals from Rock In Rio to Glastonbury. Hailed by the BBC as “an icon of Irish music,” Dervish is fronted by one of Ireland’s best-known singers, Cathy Jordan.
Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas are a duo combining fiddle and cello in a repertoire that ranges from intimate chamber music to high-energy dance tunes. Scotland’s Fraser, who’s been called “the Michael Jordan of Scottish fiddling,” and Californian cellist Haas have been lighting up festivals and concert halls across the globe for 16 years.
Those two acts will be joined by several other accomplished Celtic musical artists, including Karan Casey, Cillian Vallely Trio, Biddy on the Bench, On the Lash, Cayley Schmid and Aaron Guest, and Lisa Lynne and Aryeh Frankfurter. For a full look at the artist lineup, go here.
Sponsored by Polly Plumb Productions, a local nonprofit that stages cultural events in Yachats, the Celtic Festival is the highlight of the city’s late-year calendar. Hundreds of people are expected to be in town for the music and related fun.
While traditional and nontraditional Celtic music is the foundation of the festival, other attractions abound. Plans are to offer a whisky-tasting, “pub-style” food, and beverages at the Commons, plus an array of vendors offering Celtic-themed merchandise.
Cheryl Romano is a Yachats freelance reporter who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. She can be reached at Wordsell@gmail.com