{"id":290905,"date":"2026-09-21T16:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/290905\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T16:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:12:12","slug":"music-parades-celtic-lore-what-to-expect-from-annual-festival-in-bethlehem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/290905\/","title":{"rendered":"Music, parades, Celtic lore: What to expect from annual festival in Bethlehem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bethlehem<\/a> will be filled with bagpipes, fiddles, Highland athletics and Celtic traditions this month as the Celtic Cultural Alliance brings the Celtic Classic Highland Games & Festival back for 2026.<\/p>\n

The 39th annual festival is scheduled for Sept. 25-27 in Downtown Bethlehem. The three-day event is free and will feature five stages of Celtic music and entertainment, Highland Games competitions, dancing, food, vendors and educational programming.<\/p>\n

According to a press release, music will range from traditional Celtic performances to rock and fusion. Featured performers include On the Lash<\/a>, Screaming Orphans, C\u00falra, The Ogham Stones, Pilgrims of Deep Run, Seamus Kennedy, Gerry Timlin and the Dave North Trio. <\/p>\n

The O\u2019Grady Quinlan Academy of Irish Dance<\/a> will perform throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n

Also taking place are the festival\u2019s Highland Games, which will include the U.S. National Highland Games Championship. This brings professional Highland athletes from across the country to compete in various games for a national title. <\/p>\n

The weekend will begin with the Haggis Bowl at 5:30 p.m. Friday, where competitors will race to eat a pound of haggis.<\/p>\n

One of the weekend\u2019s major events, the Tartan Parade, will begin at Bethlehem City Hall at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. The U.S. Naval Academy Pipe Band, Scottish clans and the Freedom and Liberty high school<\/a> marching bands are scheduled to participate.<\/p>\n

Pipe band competitions will continue throughout the weekend, with a Grade 4 competition beginning at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and a Grade 3 competition scheduled for noon Sunday.<\/p>\n

Families can also visit Celtic Heritage Hollow in the Colonial Industrial Quarter, where children\u2019s activities and historical and genealogical information from Scottish clans will be available. The Heritage Stage will feature presentations on topics including local history, Celtic lore and heritage, as well as a children\u2019s performance, musical workshops and a performance by Freedom High School\u2019s Celtic Ensemble.<\/p>\n

Food vendors will offer Celtic staples such as haggis, bridies and bangers and mash, along with poutine and crab cakes. Attendees can also browse about 50 Celtic merchants selling apparel, jewelry, d\u00e9cor and other goods representing the seven Celtic nations.<\/p>\n

The festival grew from an event first held in 1988 by a small group seeking to celebrate Celtic culture and establish an organization dedicated to preserving it. The organization now offers year-round programs focused on Celtic arts, music, literature, dance and history, including educational outreach and scholarships for students studying Irish step dance, Highland dance, fiddle and bagpipes.<\/p>\n

The Celtic Classic has grown into one of the largest Highland Games and Celtic festivals in North America, according to the press release. More than 200,000 visitors attend annually.<\/p>\n

More information, including the full schedule, directions and volunteer opportunities, is available through the Celtic Cultural Alliance\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bethlehem will be filled with bagpipes, fiddles, Highland athletics and Celtic traditions this month as the Celtic Cultural…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-290905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}