Gavin’s fest expands to 3 days

The Narrowbacks.

By Irish Echo Staff

All hands on deck at Gavin’s Irish Country Inn where preparations are underway for the 2nd Annual Gavin’s Irish Music Festival to be held Friday, Aug. 18, Saturday, Aug. 19 and Sunday, Aug. 20.

Innkeeper Bernadette Gavin-Palmieri whose family has owned the 1920s-founded establishment since 1961, said she’s “thrilled” to be offering this Irish Americana event in the middle of the Catskills peak season.

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“Hunter Mountain was sold in 2016, and the new ski resort company decided to make Hunter Mountain Celtic Festival a 1-day event in 2016,” Gavin-Palmieri said. “Then, for 2017, Hunter Mountain cancelled the Hunter Mountain Celtic Festival that had been run for over 20 years.”

Gavin-Palmieri even danced with the Michael Farrell School of Irish Step Dancing at Hunter Mountain about 25 years ago, and remembers that amazing Hunter Mountain Celtic Festival “that would not only fill Hunter Mountain but all of East Durham, especially when the Bagpipers would march down the mountain on a Sunday evening. “

In August 2016, Gavin’s Irish Country Inn had a Shilelagh Law Weekend and it sold out in 24 hours. So, for 2017, they decided to expand the weekend to fill the need vacated the Hunter Mountain event.

More than 12 headliner Irish-American acts are scheduled – Shilelagh Law, the Narrowbacks, Celtic Cross Band, McLean Ave Band, Tommy Flynn Band, FDNY Pipes & Drum Band, The Canny Brothers, Farrell School of Irish Dance, Crooked Jacks, Irish the Band, and the Kevin McCormack Band among them.

Gavin’s Irish Country Inn rooms are booked for the weekend, but they are offering onsite camping and 24/7 free East Durham area fest shuttle service to encourage as many stay-overs as possible. Also, Gavin’s is offering 1-Day, 2-Day, and 3-Day festival passes that can be purchased on www.gavins.com or by phone at 518-634-2582. If this event is a success, Gavin’s Irish Country Inn plans to build a more permanent event spot with the aim of making it the largest Irish summer fest in the Northeast.

Gavin’s Irish Country Inn is offering additionally the High Kings Live in East Durham Hotel Package, as that band is playing at the Our Lady of Knock Shrine on Sunday, Aug. 27. In addition, Dana, who wrote the Song Our Lady of Knock is also doing a fundraising Spiritual Concert at Our Lady of Knock Shrine on Saturday, Aug. 5. For tickets to Our Lady of Knock Shrine events, Gavin’s Irish Country Inn’s directly at 518-634-2582.

 

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