Celtic Colours 2020

I have not made an arts post for a while now. It's time to fix that. The pandemic has meant there's a real paucity of arts going on. For many years I was usually out in Cape Breton this time of year with my wife Lori, to go to the Celtic Colours Festival. Some years we'd go in the summer and hit up the Broad Cove Concert, which is a whole different experience. Lori died last year and one of the things I  knew broke her heart when she became ill was that we could not make another trip out to a place we both loved - Cape Breton.

This year there's no Celtic Colours Festival in the normal sense. But for many years now they have done a great live stream of some of the festival. This year it is all virtual, but the performances are as spectacular as ever. I have been watching what I can, and enjoying it, although not having a chance to drive around in the beautiful fall or summer on the island detracts from the experience, as well as not being able to talk to the performers and make friends. 

My point here is - if you like Celtic music, and want to be exposed to a wide range of it with some Acadian, Native American, and other kinds of music thrown in, you should make a stab at watching some of the live streams. You can see the schedule and the upcoming shows at the Celtic Colours website. Some of the earlier performances from this year and some other years past are on the Celtic Colours YouTube channel. 

Take a look. Take a listen. I guarantee you'll find something that will astound you - a fiddler, a guitarist, a flutist (one of the artists in residence this year is Nuala Kennedy, who I love both as a performer and a person). It might be some dancers or a piper. The live streams are full of promotion for Cape Breton, since the island now depends on tourism for most of its income (and it's worth a trip, far away as it is). You'll be surprised by the beauty of the promo films, but trust me, it's better in person.