TUSCUMBIA-Are you ready for some bright and vibrant Celtic music? Be sure and join us as we host the second, now annual, Belle Mont Celtic Festival on May 12-13, 2023. The concert will be held on the grounds of historic Belle Mont Mansion and will bring the Steel City Rovers, all the way from Ontario, Canada to join returning Celtic artists Ed Miller, The Piper Jones Band (featuring bagpiper E.J. Jones), and Chambless and Muse. The festival will include crafts, life-skill demonstrators, activities for children, food and Celtic merchandise vendors.
Ninon Parker, site director of Belle Mont said that last year’s Celtic event was a huge success attended by hundreds. “We are so excited to now bring a festival of this quality to the Shoals area. The musicians are truly world-class! The Belle Mont setting is perfect for an outdoor concert and the historical significance of the Scottish heritage of people for whom Belle Mont was built in the early 1800’s adds a special meaning to bringing tunes from Scotland and Ireland to this site.”
On Friday, May 12, 10:00 – 4:00, free pre-festival events at Belle Mont will serve as a kick-off to the Celtic Fest. At 11:00 a.m. folklorist and author Joyce Cauthen will be joined by her husband, Jim Cauthen, performing fiddle tunes on the courtyard and discussing Celtic and African influence on the music that developed in early America and in Appalachia, influences that can be heard today in the famous “Muscle Shoals Sound.” At noon, a discussion describing the trends of Scots Irish migration into the Tennessee Valley and the influence of their settlement in early Alabama will be led by Dr. George Makowski, Professor of Public History at the University of North Alabama. A demonstration and showing of Gordon Setters will take place at 1:00 p.m. This canine breed was originally developed in Scotland to aid in the flushing of birds from the fields. 
On Friday evening the outdoor stage will come alive with the festival headliners performing from 6:00 until 9:00. Concert admission, cash preferred, at the gate is $20.00 adult, $5.00 youth, ages 13-18, and free for kids 12 years and under. Gate admission for the all-day Saturday festival is $20.00 adult, $5.00 youth 13-15 years, kids 12 and under free. All adult tickets are discounted to $15.00 if 
purchased in advance through Event Brite or by calling the museum at 256-381-5052 to pay by credit card. Saturday tickets include admission to the historic museum. You are invited to bring chairs and blankets for seating. In case of severe weather, the festival will move to Northwest Shoals Community College.
Belle Mont Celtic Fest is made possible through the generous support of the Northwest Council of RC & D, Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, Alabama Humanities Alliance, Colbert County Community Development, Bank Independent, Tuscumbia Civitan Club, Pettus Plumbing and Piping, Colbert County Tourism, Cold Water Inn, and by patrons of Celtic Arts. The festival is sponsored by the Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation, the Alabama Historical Commission and Belle Mont Mansion. Belle Mont is located south of Tuscumbia in Colbert County in northwest Alabama. The address is 1569 Cook Lane, Tuscumbia, Alabama 35674.
