The festival, now in its fifth year, will be taking over town – specifically, the Strater and Irish Embassy Pub – March 9-12 and features a mix of local and not-so-local bands, dancers and a host of workshops. It’s sold out the past two years.

C.J. Alderton, event chairman and festival board member, says the festival came about as a way to fill in quiet time in town, and also was the result of the growing popularity of Celtic music in the area.

“We were approached by the Strater, by Rod Barker, about starting a Celtic festival during a down season in March,” he says. “It’s kind of a shoulder season for the community; things are dying down with the skiing and whatnot. There’d been an uptick in Celtic music that sort of corresponded with the opening of the Irish Embassy Pub.”

He says that the festival has been growing over the years and now even has a loyal fan base of people who come in from Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma and Texas just to attend.

“I think it’s growing. I don’t think it would have been that 10 years ago, even though there was a small pocket of people that were trying to get it blossomed out,” says Shiela Lane, also on the festival board and a bandmate of Alderton’s in the group Patrick Crossing. “But over time, I think people are starting to see the connections to folk music, to old-time music, to bluegrass music to Celtic music. There’s a similar base that they all come out of.”

So what’s not to miss?

“Solas, obviously, is legendary,” Alderton says, adding that there’s also a performance going on Friday night that is “so over-the-top cool and so family-friendly.”

The performance he’s talking about is “The Pooka and the Fiddler” from the group Colcannon. It’s an award-winning song and storytelling event that features the story about the pooka, which is in Celtic lore.

And for workshops not to miss, Lane says this is the first year the festival is trying out a double bass class. There will also be an Irish dance class with Coleman Academy dancers and a beginning harp workshop.

The cool thing about the workshops, she says, is that they’re taught by members of the bands playing in the festival.

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Concert schedule

Thursday, March 9
7 p.m. Solas in concert, Henry Strater Theatre.
FRIDAY, March 10
Friday afternoon Concert Series: Henry Strater Theatre:
4-4:45 p.m. Kitchen Jam Band
5-5:45 p.m. Patrick Crossing
Friday Night Concert Series: Henry Strater Theatre:
7 p.m. “The Pooka and the Fiddler,” award-winning show by Colcannon
8 p.m. Colcannon in concert.
Friday Late Night: Irish Embassy Pub:
9-11 p.m. Goitse
SATURDAY, March 11
Saturday Workshops at the Strater and the Irish Embassy Pub beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Saturday Afternoon Concert Series: Henry Strater Theatre:
1:45-2:30 p.m. Coleman Academy Dancers
2:45-3:45 p.m. Singing Pilgrims
4-5:30 p.m. Barrule
5:30-7 p.m. * Dinner Break*
Saturday Evening Concert Series: Henry Strater Theatre:
7 p.m. Goitse
Saturday Afternoon at the Irish Embassy Pub:
3-4 p.m. Next Generation Fiddlers
4:30-5 p.m. Coleman Academy Dancers – performance upstairs at the Pub
5:15-6:15 p.m. Coleman Academy Dancers – workshop downstairs in the Underground
5:15-6:45 p.m. Session
Late Night at the Pub: Irish Embassy Pub:
9-11 p.m. Barrule
SUNDAY, March 12
The Irish Embassy Pub:
12:30 p.m. Open Session – free.
For workshop schedule and tickets, visit www.durangocelticfestival.com.