Enjoy a glimpse of the various types of events offered by these community organizations in association with our Festival.

A sold out audience at Sydney’s Centre 200 and an audience of over 15,000 people tuning in to watch the live stream enjoyed a stunning tribute to Rita MacNeil that featured many prominent members of Cape Breton Island’s musical community.

All proceeds from the concert and additional donations made at the venue and online will go towards a scholarship in Rita’s name for the newly established music Degree Program (BACS in Music) at Cape Breton University.

The Celtic Colours International Festival Staff and Board are saddened by the loss of Cape Breton’s First Lady of Song, Rita MacNeil. We extend our condolences to her family, friends and many fans.

Musical friends and colleagues of Rita MacNeil are coming together for a celebration of her life on Monday, May 6th at Center 200 in Sydney. It is an opportunity for the entire community of her friends and fans to remember her, to celebrate her impact, and to say goodbye. The evening will be called “Home I’ll Be: Remembering Rita”. It will start at 7:30 PM. A nominal ticket price of $10 will allow everyone to be there and all proceeds will go toward a scholarship in her name for the newly-announced Music degree program (BACS in Music) at Cape Breton University. Click for full details.

Did you know that Celtic Colours offers educational presentations that can be brought right to your school?

To the delight of students and to the benefit of teachers, we offer two 50-minute musical programs that are curriculum-connected, and fun! And, they can be brought to schools all over Cape Breton Island.

For more information on bringing these programs to your school, watch the above video and then visit our schools program page.

Total of 20,276 tickets were sold to performances, an increase of almost 2,000 tickets over the previous high reached in 2011.

Mary Jane Lamond & Wendy MacIsaac band, Kimberly Fraser and Cyril MacPhee perform in Ireland and Scotland in January.