Published: January 24, 2009 02:23 pm      

Local Celtic festival set for Jan. 31

Walkers' Gallery

San Marcos — The first ever San Marcos Celtic Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 31 at the San Marcos Activity Center.

Art and crafts booths will feature prints, jewelry, felted crafts, Renaissance clothing, Celtic crosses, books, music CDs and more unusual Celtic gifts.  

“The public is invited to come by Saturday for a fun day of celebration. Art, music, dance and more,” event organizer Linda Kelsey-Jones said.   The traditional holiday of St. Bridget's Day is celebrated on the eve of her Saint's Day, Feb. 1, considered the first day of spring in Ireland and a welcoming of the return of sunlight.  

St. Bridget was the name of both the Celtic Goddess of light, fire and healing and the Christian Saint Bridgid of Kildare, revered as a Patron Saint of Ireland along with St. Patrick. The epitome of kindness and charity, she is considered a protectress of women, animals and is the Patron Saint of kitchens.  

The San Marcos festival will celebrate the art exhibit "Celtic Spirit Worldwide" at the Walkers' Gallery, in which more than 100 Celtic inspired artworks from artists as far away as China and as nearby as San Marcos is on display through the end of February.  

Some of the artists will be in attendance at the festival and prizes will be awarded to top juried entries.  

Celtic cultural descendants today are primarily inhabitants of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. The original Celts, however, were a diverse group of Iron Age tribal societies that lived throughout the European continent, as far west as the British Isles and as far east as modern day Turkey.

Performance schedule is as follows:

• 11 a.m.: Hawke of the Bedlam Bards (pub songs and more)

• Noon: Strayaway (traditional Irish gigs and airs)

• 1 p.m.: Thomas Grauzer (Celtic harp)

• 2 p.m.: Scottish Country Dance Alliance

• 3 p.m.: Storytelling with David Thompson

• 4 p.m.: O’Malarky



Art exhibits at the Walkers' gallery are sponsored by the San Marcos Area Arts Council and the city of San Marcos with support from the San Marcos Arts Commission.