Flathead Celtic Festival brings culture, community together

The Flathead Celtic Festival and Highland Games return to Kalispell for the second event next weekend.

The festival will be held Saturday, Sept. 17, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Herron Park in Kalispell. This is a family-friendly event that is free and open to the public.

Festival director Rob Eberhardy said this year will be bigger and better than the inaugural event in 2015.

“We took what we had and built on it,” Eberhardy said. “The community has been great in the outreach and so many people have been so good to us.”

Eberhardy said that anyone with an appreciation of or desire to learn about Celtic heritage — those from the seven Celtic Nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Galicia and Brittany — will enjoy the celebration.

The festival includes food, beverage, arts and craft vendors, kids’ activities booths, familial history (clans) and live entertainment. The popular Highland Games athletic competitions will include caber tossing and hammer throwing. Athletes who want to participate can register in advance online at flatheadcelticfestival.com or on site the day of the event beginning at 8:30 a.m.

The educational tents, featuring groups including the University of Montana Irish Studies program (http://hs.umt.edu/irish-studies), the Montana Gaelic Cultural Society (www.mtgaelic.org) and The Gathering (http://mtirishgathering.org), will be on hand to educate participants about various aspects of Celtic culture.

“We have more vendors, but we also have more educational tents this year,” Eberhardy said. “There are tons more moving parts, but also a lot more volunteers.”

Eberhardy said the idea for the Flathead event came after seeing and participating in other similar events around the region.

“I thought it was important to bring this here because it’s different,” Eberhardy said. “I grew up with this culture and wanted the chance to celebrate and share that with our local community and give my kids the chance to experience that.”

Eberhardy emphasized that anyone and everyone is invited to attend.

“What really surprised me last year was all the kids running around,” he said. “It was such a cool energy with all the laughter and fun and music. It was just the perfect spirit of celebration ... where everything is good. I want everyone to be able to have that wide-eyed wonderment.”

The festival includes live entertainment in the form of live music and dancing throughout the day. Performers this year include the Celtic Spirit Singers, Tra le Gael, the Missoula Highland Dancers and the Missoula Irish Dancers, Second Wind, the Kalispell Irish Dancers and headliners Broken Whistle.

“It creates such a good community feeling,” Eberhardy said. “I think if people understand their roots better — not just theirs but others’ heritage and cultures too — then we wouldn’t have as many issues with each other. I hope the festival helps with that. And I’ll keep doing it as long as people want it.”

The mission of the Flathead Celtic Festival is “to educate those with a Celtic heritage in their culture or to educate those interested in learning about other cultures, regardless of their background.”

For more information, a schedule, or to register to participate in the Highland Games, visit flatheadcelticfestival.com, www.facebook.com/flatheadcelticfestival or call 406-314-2568.

Entertainment editor Stefanie Thompson can be reached at 758-4439 or ThisWeek@dailyinterlake.com.