The Northeast Louisiana Celtic Festival is returning to Kiroli Park in West Monroe for its 15th year this Saturday, October 5. The festival will feature music from Celtic folk groups, traditional step dancing, and storytelling.
Festivities kick off at 10 a.m. on Kiroli Park's main stage and last until 7:00 p.m. Admission is $5 per person and free to children 10 and under.
The Celtic Festival is one of the longest running festivals in Northeast Louisiana. The Kiroli Foundation started the celebration in 2004 as a way to honor the large number of Scottish-Irish immigrants that settled the area.
Doug Seegers, director of West Monroe's Park and Recreation, says, "You only have to look in the phone book to see that Ouachita Parish was heavily settled by Irish and Scots. There's a heavy history in this part of Louisiana that is steeped with Celtic traditions."
On Friday and Saturday, there will be several opportunites to experience that culture and heritage.
Friday, Oct. 4, the Beet Root Revival will be playing a selection of traditional Celtic folk tunes at West Monroe's Brown Bag Concert Series in the West Monroe Farmers' Market Pavillion. Their performance begins at 12 p.m.
Saturday's festival will also include live music from different folk bands along with traditional, Celtic crafts and food located around Kiroli Park's main stage area. Children's entertainment will be storytelling of Scot-Irish folklore and more arts-and-crafts at the park's lodge. There is something for everyone in the family.
After the festival, the activities do not just end there. Ouachita Green will be screening the movie, Brave, on the park's grounds at 7 p.m. Enoch's Pub and Cafe will also be hosting more Celtic bands that will play throughout the night at their bar and restauraunt on 507 Louisville Avenue, Monroe.
For more information about the Celtic Festival, click here.