Celtic Festival to bring food, music, highland games to Holland this weekend

HOLLAND — Come one, come all, to the fifth annual Holland Waterfront Celtic Festival and Highland Games. 

The event, which runs June 26-27, celebrates Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and other Celtic cultures through live music, traditional athletics, dancing, food and historical exhibits.

This year kicks off with live music and plenty to experience.

The festival runs 4-11 p.m. Friday, June 26, and 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, June 27. 

This year, Craig Rich, president of the Holland Celtic Society, estimated that 5,000 attendees will come during the two-day event, which would be a bigger turnout than the previous two years.

Rich credited the higher attendance to simply better weather, noting that last year the heat was in the 90s and turnout was around 3,500. 

The event idea itself originated during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rich said.

“We wanted to give a group of people a reason to celebrate,” Rich said. “It gives everybody their own reason to get together and celebrate the heritage of their culture.”

The event required attendees to be 21 and older for the Friday night activities. 

“We kinda thought, ‘Let's make Friday really like a couples special, an event where you're gonna meet a lot of people, which kinda creates this cache,’” Rich said. “And then parents can leave their kids home for that night, then come back the next day with the kids and get in for free.” 

Highland games are a key part of the festival this weekend, with all nine ancient athletic events being featured at the festival. 

Competitive events such as open stone, weight over bar, and caber toss are featured at the event. 

The games begin at 10 a.m. Saturday with sign-in beginning at 8:45 a.m., and will end around 5 p.m.; registration for the games closed June 21 and same-day registration will not be available. 

“There’s height events and distance events,” Rich said, explaining that “tossing came from clearing fields of trees to plant crops.

“All those farm chores turned into a competition and are all very traditionally Scottish,” he said.

Kate Boeve returns to the games this year as athletic director and will be overseeing the highland games activities. A judges and athletes tent will be set up at the event. Coolers, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages are welcome at the event; however, alcoholic beverages are not allowed. 

Winners of the games will win a custom medal and all ages of athletes will be at the event this year, with men, women and kids competing. 

Rich made sure to point out the energy of the crowd at the events.

“Some of them have never seen anything like it,” he said. “You can just hear them roaring; you can feel it, it's like this energy.”

Music is a key feature of the festival, with nearly 30 performances by 15 Irish and Celtic bands scheduled. A pipe and drum band and five Irish and Scottish dance groups also will be featured.

A schedule of the artists can be found for the event here. 

Also featured at the event will be unique vendors, all designed to enhance festival-goers’ experience. Kilts, shirts, clan wear and other items will be sold, and all food will have a Celtic flair! Retail food and vendor hours will be 4-10 p.m. on Friday, June 26, and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on June 27. 

Happy hour drinks will be available 4-6 p.m. on Friday night and must be redeemed by 7 p.m. 

Tickets for the event are $22.50 for Friday if purchased in advance; $25 at the gate. Tickets purchased for Friday night get festival goers into Saturday’s events for free. Standalone tickets for Saturday cost $14.50 in advance and $15 at the gate. Kids 15 and younger can get into the event for free. 

The event will take place at the Ottawa County Fairgrounds, 1286 Ottawa Beach Road, Holland; free parking is available immediately to the east of the festival site. Enter gate 1 near the dog/skate park entrance. There is no entry at gate 2. The spots on the west end of this grassy lot are reserved for vehicles with state-issued disability parking. 

For more information on the games and the festival, visit hollandcelticfestival.org.

— Mallory Burt is a reporter for the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.