The Celtic Colours International Festival reportedly will return to Cape Breton, N.S. from Oct. 11 to 19, with hundreds of events and performances scheduled to take place in communities around the island.
A unique celebration of Cape Breton Island’s living traditional culture, The Celtic Colours International Festival runs for nine days each October to showcase hundreds of events and activities taking place in communities all over the Island.
Leanne Birmingham-Beddow. The CEO of the festival was reported saying that the festival had seen difficulty in recent years during the pandemic before dealing with a hurricane during its first year back.
“This year I think everything’s in place and the colours are going to be great too,” Birmingham-Beddow said. “Cape Breton Island is always a wonderful backdrop for all of the wonderful music and cultural experiences.”
Celtic Colours Festival’s enormous impact on the Cape Breton tourism industry according to an audience and visitor survey was conducted last year with the help of Cape Breton University’s World Tourism Institute, said Birmingham-Beddow.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Birmingham-Beddow said. “Last year for instance, about 66 per cent of our attendees were from off-island.” She said the data they collected showed $16 million in direct audience spending for 2023.
Birmingham-Beddow added that according to the festival data indications that people who attend the festival enjoy it enough to come back, with 35 to 40 per cent of attendees returning five times or more.
Looking for volunteers. The 2024 Celtic Colours International Festival says that tickets are still available.
“There’s 50 concerts and we’ve got a tremendous number of wonderful musicians,” Birmingham-Beddow said, adding that the festival finale includes two acts that everyone should see: Grammy-Award winner Carlos Núñez(opens in a new tab) and Julie Fowlis who sang as a Disney Princess in the 2012 film, “Brave” If that isn’t reason enough to come to Cape Breton, Birmingham-Beddow said the colours will be vibrant this fall.
“It’s going to be gorgeous. I’m already seeing a little bit of colour coming out for sure.”
