By: Denise Foley

The always fun Celtic Festival sponsored every year by the AOH Div. 1 starts on Friday night, June 6,with music, great food, and fun for the kids and continues through Sunday at St. Michael’s Picnic Grove in Mont Clare, near Phoenixville. If you go Friday night, you can pick up discount tickets for the rest of the weekend. All proceeds go to fund AOH charities.

The same evening, Scythian, the raucus Celtic/klezmer/who knows what else band from DC is rocking the Philadelphia Art Museum.

On a more serious note, a meeting is scheduled for 8 PM at the Irish Center to discuss fundraising efforts to save two of the Delaware Valley’s longest-running Irish radio shows. See our story.

On Saturday, Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May is holding its fourth Celtic festival; the Philadelphia Donegal GFC is facing the Derry GFC in New York’s Gaelic Park, and in Coatesville, Michael O Raghallaigh and Ivan Goff will be proving that the concertina and uilleann pipes can make beautiful music together.

On Sunday, June 8, the Danny Browne AOH Division is holding its annual fundraiser with great food, drink, and music. It starts at 3 PM at the Irish Center in Mt. Airy. All proceeds to to AOH charities.

Coming up:

On June 14, local filmmaker John Foley will debut his documentary, “The Color Bearers,” at Betsy Ross House as part of the city’s flag day celebration. The film explores Americans’ unusual relationship with their flag. And there’s an Irish connection: One of the stories told in the documentary involves Col. St Clair Mulholland and the 116th PA Irish Brigade. Born in Ireland in 1839, Mulholland and his family emigrated to Pennsylvania when he was seven years old. Wounded four times in the Civil War, Mulholland was given the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery in the battle of Chancellorville.

If you're up for a little ride to see some great Gaelic football, the Philadelphia Donegal club, AKA Four Provinces, will be back in Gaelic Park in the Bronx, New York, to face Cavan.

And a real treat: On June 17, the U.S. Air Force Heritage Aire Celtic Ensemble will give a free concert at the Irish Center. The group, under the direction of TSgt. Sherry Burt, recently performed 60 concerts in 55 days around Southwest Asia and the Horn of Africa. Who knew the Air Force had a Celtic band?