Get ready to put on your dancing shoes and tap your toes to a different kind of vibe on the King’s Birthday weekend in October, when Celtic bands take over town during CelticFest Warwick 2025! CelticFest Warwick is excited to release this year’s festival music program, with the core event held at the Warwick Showgrounds on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 October, and it promises something for all ages. You can rock out to bands under the Main Stage Marquee or soak up the melodies of traditional and Celtic-inspired music in the intimate Meadows Marquee.
The kids can bounce around on the grass through the bubbles during the Celtic Kids show, the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society will teach you a dance or two at their workshops, and the Queensland Irish Choir will delight with their beautiful rendition of Irish tunes. Meanwhile everyone can have a go at group Celtic bush dances at the Saturday night ceili hosted by the Darling Downs Irish Club and called by The Scotsman, Graeme McColgan, with music by Kejafi.
CelticFringe
Australian Celtic Women open this year’s festival with a feature CelticFringe concert held in the historic King’s Theatre at Club Warwick RSL on the Friday evening. Their elegant show will take you on a mesmerizing journey through the rolling hills and misty moors of Ireland and Scotland, with heavenly voices, tantalizing harmonies, dazzling costumes and whirlwind fiddle playing – if you miss them on Friday night, you can catch them at CelticFest on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday night headliners, The Gathering ‘kick-arse Irish party band’ fronted by Dubliner Mick McHugh, will take over the Main Stage Marquee at the Showgrounds – they never fail to get the room rocking. The Gathering regularly plays packed-out venues such as Finn McCools and Irish Murphys in Brisbane and Gold Coast with everyone having a blast, Irish or not! Talented Mick McHugh, who recently recorded two albums with ABC Kids, will also share his Celtic Kids daytime show in the Meadows Marquee. The little ones can join in the best Irish toe-tapping, hand clapping, foot stomping energetic sing-a-longs this side of the Fairy Kingdom.
Limerick MCB will bring their passion for high-energy Celtic music back to the main stage after last joining the festival in 2022. The band has played alongside world renowned artists including Andrew Strong (The Commitments movie) and Irish fiddle player and banjoist Gerry O’Connor (Irish Rovers). The Shamrock Dancers will bring toe tapping Irish dance energy to the show on Limerick’s dance stage. You can also catch Limerick at the Sandy Creek Pub CelticFringe gig on Friday 3 October with a shuttle bus available from Warwick to the door and return.
A rollicking CelticFest
New to CelticFest in 2025 is Sydney based Kejafi, a three-piece Celtic music band which performs traditional folk tunes from Scotland, Ireland and Australia, as well as their own compositions. Their second album ‘The Road’ was a finalist in the 2024 Australian Folk Album of the Year awards and they have toured widely, including performing at the Sydney Opera House and the Australian Celtic Festival. Beck Sian is making her CelticFest debut as well. Related to English singer Kate Bush, Melbourne based Beck Sian is an award-winning songwriter who has released four albums. This talented guitarist, harpist and vocalist was described by Judith Durham (The Seekers) as ‘a multi-layered unique artiste with a vocal gift to carry her anywhere’.
Graeme McColgan (aka The Scotsman) makes a welcome return to CelticFest from Glasgow via Sydney; he will perform on the Main Stage. With his guitar or 8-string ukulele in hand, The Scotsman blends evocative vocals with everything from 200-year-old Burns tales to modern upbeat folk tunes. On the Saturday evening The Scotsman will call the family fun of a ceili with ‘Celtic bush dances’ in the Doug Feez Pavilion. But that’s not all! Other confirmed music acts are Rebecca Wright and Donald McKay, Lorna Warne, and Kurrajong Song – all crowd-pleasing artists reprising their previous CelticFest appearances. To close out CelticFest Warwick 2025 with a bang, Highlander, the Scottish Celtic Rock Band from down-under will rock King’s Theatre at Club Warwick RSL with heart stomping bagpipes, fiddle and rocking rhythm, while Limerick MCB will host a rollicking CelticFest after-party at the Warwick Hotel on Sunday 5 October. These CelticFringe gigs are the perfect way to continue rocking on Sunday night, as the long weekend allows for recovery on Monday.
Adult weekend tickets are available from www.celticfestqld.com.au, where you will also find tickets for the separately organised CelticFringe events. Online tickets for Saturday, Sunday, and Saturday night only (CelticFest Party Night) have also been released.
Main photo: Graeme McColgan, The Scotsman.