The History of the Festival

From 2000 to 2002:
The Montreal International Celtic Festival

Held on the grounds of the Douglas Hospital in Verdun, the Festival experienced three successive years of growth and was hailed as one of the great new Festivals in Montréal. Our reputation grew very rapidly with visitors coming from as far as Australia to enjoy the music, dance, storytelling, arts and crafts, conferences, workshops, exhibits and children’s activities.

 The first edition (June 17-18, 2000): 20,000 visitors
 The second edition (August 10-12, 2001): 30,000 visitors
 The third edition (August 9-11, 2002): 30,000 visitors

From 2003 to 2010...

 We organized concerts by performers such as The Tannahill Weavers, Desi Wilkinson, The Barra MacNeils, Tony McManus, Jerry Holland, Salsa Celtica, La Bottine souriante, Kirk MacGeachy, Orealis, Maeve Mackinnon…
 We supported worthy causes such as Ovarian Cancer Canada by providing volunteers and live music at their events.
 We collaborated with others such as the Festival interculturel du conte du Québec and the Jeanie Johnston Committee to bring great music to the public.

Since 2011…

We decided to relaunch the Festival but this time in the Eastern Townships.
Since the Celts venerated nature, and Celtic music is rooted in small, closeknit communities around the world that have kept this music going, the Eastern Townships was the perfect location.

Since then, Celtic Harmonies International Festival has continued to present the best in Celtic music, but in smaller, more intimate venues and in the perfect natural setting to allow people to slow down and re-discover the "ART OF LIVING".