Celtfest participants do the Highland Fling during the event launch at the Best Western Hotel Saturday. Story and photo provided.
For the first time since its inception seven years ago, Celtfest will host its annual Scottish festival in a location other than Callander. The Celtfest Board of Directors has secured a three-year "partnership support agreement" with Westmont Hospitality Group and, as such, will host the 2008 event on the grounds of the Best Western Hotel and Conference Centre on Lakeshore Drive in North Bay on June 6th and 7th.
"As a festival, we have long been in search of stability to ensure the future of Celtfest. Our agreement with Angela Johnston of Westmont Hospitality Group ensures that we have a true partner in securing the future of Celtfest." Says Colleen Porter, Chair of Celtfest. "Having explored many, many other options, our board of directors feel very strongly that this agreement will provide important financial stability for Celtfest and we are all very excited about the opportunity!"
Most of the original board members of Celtfest hailed from the Callander area, which is how the event came to be held in Callander. The current directors on the Celtfest Board have, for the past few years, focused their efforts on operational changes and partnerships that will serve to stabilize the event for the long term.
"As the President of Ontario’s Near North I was honored to help provide a solution to help ensure the stability of this unique Northern cultural festival. As one of the original board members of Celtfest, I felt that it was very important to seek out a partnership, and because I have worked for and with Best Western and Westmont, it was a perfect fit for this agreement." Says Angela Johnston, Regional Sales Manager for North Bay and Northern Ontario for the Westmont Hospitality Group.
"Each year Celtfest has struggled to balance the need to maintain a high caliber of celtic programming with sponsorship and volunteer support." Says new Celtfest Chieftan Bill McMahon, a long time piper whose place of birth is in Scotland. "During this transitional time for Celtfest, we have condensed our programming to keep the quality high and the event manageable. In June of this year we are proud to welcome the Toronto Police Pipe Band, truly a world class band! We will also host Highland Dancers from all over Ontario, Northern Ontario pipe bands, Scottish Vendors and more!"
Along with the location move, Celtfest 2008 also proudly introduces Northern Caledonia Pipe Band, the new official band of Celtfest. Band members hail from North Bay, Ottawa, Timmins and the Tri-town area. This unique northern band also brings together a blending of celtic and aboriginal cultures, as is noticeably prominent in their band logo.
Celtfest 2008 will begin event promotions in the spring, building towards what they hope will be their "lucky number 7" year!
