The 25th Annual Celtic Celebration will take place virtually on Saturday, March 6 beginning at noon. Since 1997, the event has been an opportunity to gather and celebrate the area’s Celtic heritage with music, art, food, education, and interpretation of Celtic traditions. This year’s event will do just that, only streamed from Wheeling Heritage’s Facebook page with different sessions throughout the day that attendees can tune into from the comfort of home.
“While we would love to celebrate the 25th Wheeling Celtic Celebration in person, this year’s virtual event gives people from Wheeling and beyond the chance to engage with our programming in new ways.” said Chris Villamagna, program manager at Wheeling Heritage. “It’s going to be a fun, engaging event celebrating Wheeling’s Celtic heritage and traditions.”
Attendees can expect the usual lineup of Celtic music performances from bands like Gallowglass and new programming, such as a cooking demonstration for an Irish stew and Children’s storytime. There is no cost to attend, and all programs will be streamed from Wheeling Heritage’s Facebook page at the top of every hour, beginning at noon.
Schedule of Events
• 12 pm: Music Performance by The Celtic Lads. Celtic Lads, Ben and Art, teamed up over 12 years ago to play classic Irish-American pub music on St. Patrick’s day. The duo has performed every year since to share their love of Irish music with the community.
• 1 pm: Cooking Demonstration with the Vagabond Chef. Matt Welsch will lead a cooking demonstration for Paddy’s Irish Stew.
• 2 pm: Music Performance by Gallowglass. Wheeling’s premier Celtic band will perform instrumental and vocal music from the Celtic nations.
• 3 pm: Children’s Storytime. The kids can tune in to listen to a Celtic tale read by Lee Ann Cleary, Children’s Specialist at Ohio County Public Library.
• 4 pm: Irish Traditions Discussion. Sean Duffy of the Ohio County Public Library will lead a discussion about Irish customs and traditions.
• 5 pm: Music Performance by the MacDonald Pipe Band of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh’s oldest continually operating bagpipe band will close out the event with their traditional Scottish pipe band music.
Order Your Celtic Food Fix
What’s a Celtic Celebration without some food? Noting the popularity of Celtic food during the annual festival, the organization has teamed up with River City Restaurant to offer Curbside Celtic Food Boxes. The boxes, which feature scotch eggs, corned beef sandwiches, colcannon and scones, can be ordered now until March 3. The boxes are $20, and pick-up for the boxes is March 6 from noon to 3. Those who have ordered can simply pull up to the Artisan Center, 1400 Main Street, and the orders will be delivered to their car. To order, visit wheelingheritage.org/celtic-celebration.
Share Your Memories from Celtic Celebrations’ Past
Take a walk down memory lane and share your favorite photos from previous Wheeling Celtic Celebrations. Wheeling Heritage has added an album to their Facebook page sharing their collection of Celtic Celebration photos and is asking the community to help add to the album. You can simply add them as a comment to the album or email your photos to info@wheelingheritage.org. Wheeling Heritage hopes that sharing these memories reminds folks that they are part of a larger community and that not too long from now we’ll be able to come together and celebrate again.
