October 26 - November 1, 2022
By CORAL COOKSLEY
CELTIC culture is celebrated with many festivals around Australia and the world and Beechworth has been no exception. The town, with its heritage dating back to the gold rush days in the mid-1850s, has celebrated its strong roots to Celtic history and the era with a Celtic Festival which began in 1995. In France, the annual Lorient Celtic festival attracts more than 700,000 people from around the world. Celebrating all things Celtic has been a passion for Celtic Festival organising committee volunteer and Beechworth’s Hotel Nicholas co-proprietor Lorraine Lucas for many years. With the event not able to run this year, and to keep the Celtic spirit alive, a small, fun celebration of Celtic culture with traditional music will be held at the hotel on the first weekend of November. Highly acclaimed Celtic musical trio ‘Bhan Tre’ with local Beechworthian Rebecca Humphreys (vocals and fiddle) with Geraldine Davis (vocals, guitar, bodhran) and Sue Foley (vocals and bodhran) from Melbourne will be among entertainers keeping the Celtic spirit alive. The group has become a regular feature at big festivals in Victoria and interstate with occasional visits with their style of Celtic music to Ireland and England. Bhan Tre has released successful albums, become a sought-after guest inclusion for visiting international artists such as Finbar Furey and Lunasa, appearance on variety television and radio programs and have performed with the Australian Welsh Choir at the Hamer Hall in Melbourne. While this year would have marked the 27th consecutive year the Celtic Festival had run (except for a two-year COVID hiatus) and with the 2022 event not on, a small committee has plans afoot for an exciting new venture to be combined with the festival for next year. Lorraine said the Celtic Festival - an event that has drawn around 10,000 visitors to the town every year when run - could have a new look where artisans with old world skills reminiscent of bygone days would feature in the vibrant weekend.
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Beechworth’s Celtic festival ◆ KEEN SUPPORTER: Beechworth’s Hotel Nicholas co-proprietor Lorraine Lucas has been a passionate supporter of the Celtic Festival for many years.
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