Corvallis Celtic Festival
2025

The third annual Corvallis Celtic Festival will be held in several locations downtown.  All Events are free except the Open the Door for Three concert on Friday at PRAx and Saturday performances at Tyee Winery.

Activities will take place::

Check the full schedule here.

This will be the third year for the festival, now becoming a favorite summertime tradition in Corvallis. While the general theme of the festival remains the same, bringing the finest local and regional Celtic musicians and dancers together and encouraging participatory sessions open to all, there are also a few new and exciting changes!

The festival kicks o@ Thursday evening, July 24 with a free event at Common Fields including dancers from the Blackthorn Academy of Dance and performances by The Nettles and The Ballybogs. Friday night, July 25 features a concert at PRAx with the Boston-based Irish music trio Open the Door for Three. Legendary fiddle player Liz Knowles, uilleann pipes player Kieran O’Hare, and bouzouki-player and singer Pat Broaders will spark plenty of musical joy! Come early to hear local favorites Sharon and Dave Thormahlen on harp, guitar, mandolin, and tenor banjo and enjoy refreshments for purchase in the PRAx lobby. Tickets are available through prax.oregonstate.edu/events. If you’re a member of CFS, you may apply the code cfs2025 to receive a $2 discount on tickets.

Saturday, July 26 is the biggest day of the festival. Events begin with bagpipers at the riverfront and morning workshops on Celtic instruments and singing at the Corvallis library and the Dragon’s Whistle in downtown Corvallis. Workshops are free to all on a first-come, first-served basis. Check the schedule and workshop descriptions on the Corvallis Celtic Festival website for more information. Saturday’s music performances will be held this year at Tyee Wine Cellars, located on a scenic farm and vineyard 10 miles south of Corvallis. Come and enjoy a variety of Celtic performers (Fionnghal, Willamette Valley Pipes and Drums, James Wilson, Amhranaithe, Schmid & Guest, and Steeplechase) in this gorgeous outdoor setting from 12:30-8:30 pm. In addition to fine music, there will be food and craft vendors and beer and wine for purchase. There is plenty of shade, but you may want to bring a blanket or camp chair. Children’s craft activities will be o@ered from 1-5 pm, and the nature trail is open all day! Please, no outside alcohol or dogs. Tickets for this event are $20/person in advance or $25 day of show. Children 12 years old and under are free, so bring the whole family! Tickets are available online from the Corvallis Celtic Festival website or in person at Grass Roots Books and Troubadour Music Center (cash or check only). After the festivities at Tyee, all Celtic musicians are invited to a free late-night jam session at the Brass Monkey from 9:30-11:30 pm.

Sunday morning, July 27, begins with performances by Whitehorn Crossing and Loose Flagstone at the Old World Deli, followed by afternoon instrumental and singing sessions at the Old World Deli and Common Fields. A special treat will be a Ceili Dance led by Ceili of the Valley, with Triple File, a youth trio from Portland, providing live music. Close out the festival at the no host slow-tune session. Come and play, or just listen!

The festival needs volunteers.  Go to https://www.corvalliscelticfestival.org/volunteer/

Contra dance is back to the regular schedule in Corvallis! The dance will start at 7:00 PM with a newcomer’s lesson and community meetup, helpful for all dancers. Following the lesson will be dancing from 7:30 PM to 10:30 PM. No partner necessary. Dance calling and role terms will be Larks & Robins. The cost is $12 – $20 sliding scale.

Because of the Covid-19 situation:

All attendees must sign a waiver for the First Congregational UCC (our dance hall) before their first dance of the 2024-25 season. Please read the waiver here before you arrive in order to speed up the check-in process at the door.

Thank you for helping to keep our dance community safely dancing! For more information on attendance requirements and other precautions, please see our current COVID-19 policy here, to be further updated soon.

The Nettles

The Nettles play improvisational music based on traditional tunes. Playing hard, they’re a Celtic jam band that makes audiences move and groove. Playing soft, they’re a lyrical folk-jazz group.

The Nettles blend traditional Irish and American music with modern spices. Laura Brophy’s fiddle forms strong melodies punctuated by soaring improvisation and intertwined with Kevin Nettle’s muscular guitar. The Nettles are propelled by the purring but powerful rhythm engine of Michael Proctor on bass and Tracy Daugherty on drums.

The Nettles play for festivals, dances, bars, and weddings on the West Coast. Their music retains the vital energy of its roots, but The Nettles’ unique interpretations add to The Tradition with every performance. The Nettles joke that “We never play the same tune once.”

Koren Wake

Koren Wake has only been calling contra dances since 2022, but she has been dancing, loving, and obsessing about contra since she was a child. Originally from New England, she spent decades analyzing the art and flow of contra and developing a deep understanding of the dance before she finally picked up a microphone in Seattle, where she is now based. She has already shared stages with some of the hottest bands in the Pacific Northwest, and has quickly proven that’s exactly where she belongs. She loves nothing more than to help dancers discover the patterns and connections of well-crafted choreography. Koren’s primary goal as a caller is to combine exquisite dance selection with clear and accessible teaching in order to bring dancers of all skill levels together on the floor.

Contra dance is back to the regular schedule in Corvallis! The dance will start at 7:00 PM with a newcomer’s lesson and community meetup, helpful for all dancers. Following the lesson will be dancing from 7:30 PM to 10:30 PM. No partner necessary. Dance calling and role terms will be Larks & Robins. The cost is $12 – $20 sliding scale.

Because of the Covid-19 situation:

All attendees must sign a waiver for the First Congregational UCC (our dance hall) before their first dance of the 2024-25 season. Please read the waiver here before you arrive in order to speed up the check-in process at the door.

Thank you for helping to keep our dance community safely dancing! For more information on attendance requirements and other precautions, please see our current COVID-19 policy here, to be further updated soon.

Loose Flagstone

Loose Flagstone celebrates its fifth year as a Corvallis Celtic quartet drawing from Irish, Scottish, and American musical influences both traditional and contemporary. Their contra repertoire explores a rich mix of Celtic jigs and reels, rousing old-time tunes and New England dance music. Loose Flagstone features Jennifer Parke on fiddle, Leslie Glassmire on silver flute, Tracy Daugherty on bodhran, and Marjorie Sandor on DADGAD guitar.

Stacy Rose

Stacy Rose is a passionate advocate for folk dancing and a dedicated educator. She began folk dancing in the early 1980s and expanded her repertoire in the early 2000s when she became a contra dance caller, sharing her love of dance at events around her state and beyond. Recognizing a need to revitalize her local folk dance community, Stacy began teaching a folk dance class at her community college in 2009. This effort not only kept the tradition alive but also inspired others to take up teaching folk dance themselves.

Stacy’s commitment to fostering new talent extends to her involvement with the National Folk Organization’s mentoring project. As a steering committee member and mentor to novice dance teachers, she helps nurture the next generation of folk dance leaders. She also co-facilitates “Dancing With Friends,” a weekly Zoom folk dance class, collaborating with skilled remote instructors to bring the joy of dance to a global audience.

Kalos

Kalos is made up of three innovative interpreters and composers of Celtic roots music: Eric McDonald, Ryan McKasson and Jeremiah McLane. They are masters of tradition who purposefully explore the dark corners floating on its edges, delivering an alluring musical complexity full of spontaneity and joyful exuberance. They set the standard for traditional repertoire with an underlying drive and pulse charged with rhythmic electricity and integrity, forging a new musical path that draws on Celtic, Breton, American and other musical traditions on accordion, guitar, fiddle, and vocals. The title of their new album, Headland, which refers to a point where land meets sea, is a fitting analogy for the exploratory space Kalos inhabits — one that calls forth driving, heartfelt music journeying through unknown territory to seek and find its essence – the enduring, resilient experience of the human heart.

Rated: G

Breabach

Twenty years on from winning the Danny Kyle Open Stage Award at Celtic Connections, Breabach remain securely ranked amongst Scotland’s most skilled & imaginative contemporary-folk acts and at the forefront of the burgeoning traditional music scene. The band unite deep roots in Highland and Island Gaelic tradition alongside progressive musical influences and have cultivated a unique sound, anchoring double bagpipes, fiddle, whistle, step-dance and song with energetic double bass and guitar accompaniment.

Versatility, love of experimentation and a willingness to push the boundaries of Scottish roots music have endured as the core values of the band over the past two decades. They have embraced and pioneered many cross-genre collaborations, linking up with artists including Quebec’s Le Vent du Nord, BAFTA award-winning animator Cat Bruce, indigenous Australasian artist Moana & the Tribe, video game composer Big Giant Circles, Cape Breton powerhouse Beòlach and most recently the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra.

With 8 critically acclaimed studio releases to date, an extensive global touring schedule and having received recognition with 6 BBC ALBA Traditional Music Awards, a 2023 German Record Critic’s Award and as European Folk Group of the year finalists in the prestigious Songlines Awards, Breabach’s journey shows no sign of slowing. They continue their adventures throughout this special anniversary year with performances and festivals across the UK, USA and Europe.

Breabach are: 

• Megan Henderson (Fiddle/Vocals/Step Dance)
• James Lindsay (Double Bass/Vocals)
• Calum MacCrimmon (Highland Bagpipe/Whistle/Bouzouki/Vocals)
• Conal McDonagh (Highland Bagpipe/Uilleann pipes/Whistle/Vocals
• Ewan Robertson (Guitar/Cajon/Vocals)